Lonely Planet İstanbul Guide

The mihrab (niche in a minaret indicating the direction of Mecca) is covered in fine İznik tiles. Other interior decoration includes window shutters inlaid with mother-of-pearl, gorgeous stained-glass windows, painted muqarnas (corbels with honeycomb detail), a spectacular persimmoncoloured floor carpet, painted pendentives and medallions featuring fine calligraphy.

SURROUNDING STREETS

The streets surrounding the mosque are home to what may well be the most extensive concentration of Ottoman timber houses on the Historic Peninsula, many of which are currently being restored as part of an urban regeneration project. To see some, head down Fetva Yokuşu (between the tabhane and Sinan’s tomb) and veer right into Namahrem Sokak and Ayrancı Sokak. One of the many Ottoman-era houses here was once occupied by Mimar Sinan; it now houses a cafe. To see other timber houses, take a walk down Kayserili Ahmetpaşa Sokak, behind the bean restaurants and souvenir shops on Professor Sıddık Sami Onar Caddesi.

Although Sinan described the smaller Selimiye Mosque in Edirne as his best work, he chose to be buried in the Süleymaniye complex, probably knowing that this would be the achievement for which he would be best remembered. His türbe (tomb) is just outside the mosque’s walled garden, next to a disused medrese (seminary) building.

The Külliye Süleyman specified that his mosque should have the full complement of public service, including: imaret (soup kitchen), medrese (Islamic school of higher studies), hamam, caravanserai and darüşşifa (hospital). Today the imaret, with its charming garden courtyard, houses the Darüzziyafe cafe and is a lovely place to enjoy a çay. On its right-hand side (north) is a tabhane (inn for travelling dervishes) that was being restored at the time of research, and on its left-hand side (south) is Lale Bahçesi, a popular tea garden set in a sunken courtyard.