Mimar Sinan

Mimar Sinan (Ottoman Turkish: ‫معمار سينان‬, romanized: Mi'mâr

Mimar Sinan
Sinân, Turkish: Mimar Sinan, pronounced [miːˈmaːɾ siˈnan]) (c.
1488–1490 – 17 July 1588) also known as Koca Mi'mâr Sinân
Âğâ, ("Sinan Agha the Grand Architect" or "Grand Sinan") was
the chief Ottoman architect (Turkish: mimar) and civil engineer for
sultans Suleiman the Magnificent, Selim II and Murad III. He was
responsible for the construction of more than 300 major structures
such as the Selimiye Mosque in Edirne, the Kanuni Sultan
Suleiman Bridge in Büyükçekmece, the Mehmed Paša Sokolović
Bridge in Višegrad, and other more modest projects such as
madrasa's, külliye's, bridges, etc. His apprentices would later
design the Sultan Ahmed Mosque in Istanbul and Stari Most in
Mostar.

The son of a stonemason, he received a technical education and

became a military engineer. He rose rapidly through the ranks to
become first an officer and finally a Janissary commander, with the
honorific title of Sinan.[1] He refined his architectural and Possibly Mimar Sinan (left) at the
engineering skills while on campaign with the Janissaries, tomb of Suleiman the Magnificent,
becoming expert at constructing fortifications of all kinds, as well 1566 manuscript
as military infrastructure projects, such as roads, bridges and
Born c. 1488/1490
aqueducts.[2] At about the age of fifty, he was appointed as chief
Ağırnas, Karaman
royal architect, applying the technical skills he had acquired in the
army to the "creation of fine religious buildings" and civic Eyalet,
structures of all kinds.[2] He remained in this post for almost fifty Ottoman Empire
years. (now Kayseri,
Turkey)
His masterpiece is the Selimiye Mosque in Edirne, although his Died 17 July 1588 (aged
most famous work is the Suleiman Mosque in Istanbul. He headed
97–100)
an extensive governmental department and trained many assistants
who, in turn, distinguished themselves, including Sedefkar Constantinople,
Mehmed Agha, architect of the Sultan Ahmed Mosque and Mimar Ottoman Empire
Hayruddin, architect of the Stari Most. He is considered the (now Istanbul,
greatest architect of the classical period of Ottoman architecture Turkey)
and has been compared to Michelangelo, his contemporary in the Nationality Ottoman
West.[3][4] Michelangelo and his plans for St. Peter's Basilica in
Occupation Architect
Rome were well known in Istanbul, since Leonardo da Vinci and
he had been invited, in 1502 and 1505 respectively, by the Buildings Süleymaniye Mosque
Sublime Porte to submit plans for a bridge spanning the Golden Selimiye Mosque
Horn.[5] Mimar Sinan's works are among the most influential Mehmed Paša
buildings in history.[6] Sokolović Bridge
Mihrimah Sultan
Early years and background Mosque
Mihrimah Mosque
Kılıç Ali Pasha
His birth is variously placed in 1489, 1490, 1491, or between 1494 Complex
and 1499.{{efn|According to contemporary biographer, Mustafa Şehzade Mosque
Sâi Çelebi, Sinan was born in 1489, 1490 according to the Haseki Hürrem
Encyclopædia Britannica,[7] 1491 according to the Dictionary of Sultan Baths
Islamic Architecture and some time between 1494 and 1499, Haseki Sultan
according to the Turkish professor and architect Reha Günay)[8] Complex
with the name Joseph. His origin is disputed; his family was either
Sokollu Mehmet
Armenian,[9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19] Cappadocian
[20][21][22][23][24][25][26] [27][28][29] Pasha Mosque
Greek, Albanian, Jewish,[30] or
Rüstem Pasha
Christian Turkish[30] in a small town called Ağırnas near the city
Mosque
of Kayseri in Anatolia (as stated in an order by Sultan Selim II).[31]
According to the Encyclopædia Britannica, Sinan had either Signature
Armenian or Greek origin.[7] One argument that lends credence to
his Armenian or Greek background is a decree by Selim II dated
Ramadan 7 981 (ca. Dec. 30, 1573), which grants Sinan's request
to forgive and spare his relatives from the general exile of
Kayseri's Orthodox communities to the island of Cyprus;[12] This
decree was published in the Turkish journal Türk Tarihi Encümeni
Mecmuası, vol. 1, no. 5 (June 1930 - May 1931). Godfrey Goodwin
stated that "after the Ottoman conquest of Cyprus in 1571, when Selim II
decided to repopulate the island by transferring Rum (Orthodox Christian)
families from the Karaman Eyalet, Sinan intervened on behalf of his
family and obtained two orders from the Sultan in council exempting
them from deportation."[25] According to several scholars, this means that
his family was Cappadocian Greek because the only Orthodox Christians
(Rûms) of the region were Greek-speaking.[32][33]

According to Herbert J. Muller he "seems to have been an Armenian."[34]

Franz Babinger, however, found that Sinan was the son of a Greek called
Hristo(s) (Greek: Χρήστος).[35] Sinan's place of birth, Ağırnas, was a
Greek village with no Armenian inhabitants which gives more credence Bust of Mimar Sinan in
to the theory of him being of Greek origin.[36] Additionally, before the Istanbul
Greeks evacuated the village, a Cappadocian Greek family from the
village named Taşçıoğlu (Greek: Ταστσιόγλου) had claimed Sinan as a
member of their own family.[36]

A few scholars hold that Sinan had possible Albanian[27] or Jewish[30] origin. A local tradition in the
village of Shiroka Lăka holds that Sinan was of Bulgarian origin and his family came from that village.[37]
Turkish scholars believe that Sinan's family was Christian Turkish.[30]

Sinan grew up helping his father in his work, and by the time that he was conscripted would have had a
good grounding in the practicalities of building work.[38] There are three brief records (Anonymous Text;
Architectural Masterpieces; Book of Architecture) in the library of Topkapı Palace, dictated by Sinan to his
friend and biographer Mustafa Sâi Çelebi. In these manuscripts, Sinan divulges some details of his youth
and military career. His father is referred to as "Abdülmennan" (literally "Servant of the Generous and
Merciful One"), a title which was commonly used in the Ottoman period to define the non-Muslim father of
a Muslim convert.[8]

Military career
In 1512, Sinan was conscripted into Ottoman service under the devshirme system.[31][39] He was sent to
Constantinople to be trained as an officer of the Janissary Corps and converted to Islam.[31] He was too old
to be admitted to the imperial Enderun School in the Topkapı Palace but was sent instead to an auxiliary
school.[31] Some records claim that he might have served the Grand Vizier Pargalı İbrahim Pasha as a
novice of the Ibrahim Pasha School. Possibly, he was given the Islamic name Sinan there. He initially
learned carpentry and mathematics but through his intellectual qualities and ambitions, he soon assisted the
leading architects and got his training as an architect.[31]

During the next six years, he also trained to be a Janissary officer (acemioğlan). He possibly joined Selim I
in his last military campaign, Rhodes according to some sources, but when the Sultan died, this project
ended. Two years later he witnessed the conquest of Belgrade. Under the new sultan, Suleiman the
Magnificent, he was present, as a member of the Household Cavalry, at the Battle of Mohács. He was
promoted to captain of the Royal Guard and then given command of the Infantry Cadet Corps. He was
later stationed in Austria, where he commanded the 62nd Orta of the Rifle Corps.[31] He became a master
of archery, while at the same time, as an architect, learning the weak points of structures when gunning
them down. In 1535 he participated in the Baghdad campaign as a commanding officer of the Royal
Guard. In 1537 he went on expeditions to Corfu and Apulia and Moldavia.[40]

During these campaigns he proved himself an able architect and engineer. When the Ottoman army
captured Cairo, Sinan was promoted to chief architect and was given the privilege of tearing down any
buildings in the captured city that were not according to the city plan. During the campaign in the East, he
assisted in the building of defences and bridges, such as a bridge across the Danube. He converted
churches into mosques. During the Persian campaign in 1535 he built ships for the army and the artillery to
cross Lake Van. For this he was given the title Haseki'i, Sergeant-at-Arms in the body guard of the Sultan,
a rank equivalent to that of the Janissary Ağa.

When Chelebi Lütfi Pasha became Grand Vizier in 1539, he appointed Sinan, who had previously served
under his command, to the office of Architect of the Abode of Felicity. This was the start of a remarkable
career. The job entailed the supervision infrastructure construction and the flow of supplies within the
Ottoman Empire. He was also responsible for the design and construction of public works, such as roads,
waterworks and bridges. Through the years he transformed his office into that of Architect of the Empire,
an elaborate government department, with greater powers than his supervising minister. He became the
head of a whole Corps of architects, training a team of assistants, deputies and pupils.

Work
His training as an army engineer gave Sinan an empirical approach to architecture rather than a theoretical
one. But the same can be said of the great Western Renaissance architects, such as Brunelleschi and
Michelangelo.

Various sources state that Sinan was the architect of at least 374 structures which included 92 mosques; 52
small mosques (mescit); 55 schools of theology (medrese); 7 schools for Koran reciters (darülkurra); 20
mausoleums (türbe); 17 public kitchens (imaret); 3 hospitals (darüşşifa); 6 aqueducts; 10 bridges; 20
caravanserais; 36 palaces and mansions; 8 vaults; and 48 baths.[41] Sinan held the position of chief architect
of the palace, which meant being the overseer of all construction work of the Ottoman Empire, for nearly
50 years, working with a large team of assistants consisting of architects and master builders.

The development and maturing stages of Sinan's career can be illustrated by three major works. The first
two of these are in Istanbul: the Şehzade Mosque, which he calls a work of his apprenticeship period and
the Süleymaniye Mosque, which is the work of his qualification stage. The Selimiye Mosque in Edirne is
the product of his master stage.
 Sinan's major works

Şehzade Mosque in Istanbul Şehzade Mosque Süleymaniye Mosque in

(interior) Istanbul

Süleymaniye Selimiye
Mosque (interior) Mosque in
Edirne

Şehzade Mosque is the first of the grand mosques created by Sinan. The Mihrimah Sultan Mosque, which
is also known as the Üsküdar Quay Mosque, was completed in the same year and has an original design
with its main dome supported by three half domes. When Sinan reached the age of 70, he had completed
the Süleymaniye Mosque complex. This building, situated on one of the hills of Istanbul facing the Golden
Horn, and built in the name of Süleyman the Magnificent, is one of the symbolic monuments of the period.
The diameter of the dome, which exceeds the 31 m (102 ft) of the Selimiye Mosque which Sinan
completed when he was 80, is the most outstanding example of the level of achievement reached by Sinan.
Mimar Sinan reached his artistic peak with the design, architecture, tile decorations and land stone
workmanship displayed at Selimiye.

Another area of architecture where Sinan produced unique designs are his mausoleums. The Mausoleum of
Şehzade Mehmed is notable for with its exterior decorations and sliced dome. The Rüstem Paşa mausoleum
is a very attractive structure in classical style. The mausoleum of Süleyman the Magnificent is an interesting
experiment, with an octagonal body and flat dome. The Selim II Mausoleum with has a square plan and is
one of the best examples of Turkish mausoleum architecture. Sinan's own mausoleum, which is located in
the north-east part of the Süleymaniye complex on the other hand, is a very plain structure.

Sinan masterfully combined art with functionalism in the bridges he built. The largest of these is the nearly
635 m (2,083 ft) long Büyükçekmece Bridge. Other important examples are the Ailivri Bridge, the Old
Bridge in Svilengrad on the Maritsa, the Lüleburgaz (Sokullu Mehmet Pasha) Bridge on the Lüleburgaz
River, the Sinanlı Bridge over the river Ergene and the Mehmed
Paša Sokolović Bridge over Drina river in Bosnia and
Herzegovina.[42]

While Sinan was maintaining and improving the water supply

system of Istanbul, he built arched aqueducts at several locations
within the city. The Mağlova Arch over the Alibey River, which is
257 m (843 ft) long and 35 m (115 ft) high, has two tiers of arches,
and is one of the best examples of its kind.
Kılıç Ali Pasha Complex designed by
At the start of Sinan's career, Ottoman architecture was highly
Sinan in Karaköy district of İstanbul
pragmatic. Buildings were repetitions of former types and were
based on rudimentary plans. They were more an assembly of parts
than a conception of a whole. An architect could sketch a plan for a new building and an assistant or
foreman knew what to do, because novel ideas were avoided. Moreover, architects used an extravagant
margin of safety in their designs, resulting in a wasteful use of material and labour. Sinan would gradually
change all this. He was to transform established architectural practices, amplifying and transforming the
traditions by adding innovations, trying to approach perfection.

The early years (till the mid-1550s): apprenticeship period

During these years he continued the traditional pattern

of Ottoman architecture, but he gradually began
exploring other possibilities, because during his
military career he had had the opportunity to study the
architectural monuments in the conquered cities of
Europe and the Middle East.

His first opportunity to design a major building was

the Hüsrev Pasha Mosque and its double medresse in
Aleppo, Syria. It was built in the winter of 1536-1537
for his commander-in-chief and the governor of Osman Shah Mosque in Trikala, Greece
Aleppo between two army campaigns. It was built
hastily and this is evident in the coarseness of
execution and the crude decoration.

His first major commission as the royal architect was

the construction of the Haseki Sultan Complex for
Hurrem Sultan, the wife of the sultan, Suleiman the
Magnificent. He had to follow the plans drawn by his
predecessors. Sinan retained the traditional
arrangement of the available space without any
innovations. Nevertheless, it was already better built
than the Aleppo mosque and it shows a certain
elegance. However, it has suffered from many
restorations. Sinan is credited to have built a defensive
tower in Vlorë, south Albania, in 1537, very similar to
the White Tower of Thessaloniki,[43] as well as The Ṣehzade Mehmed Mosque
Muradie Mosque, during Suleiman the Magnificent's
stay in the town for the preparation of his expedition
towards Italy.[44][45]
In 1541, he started the construction of the mausoleum (türbe) of the Grand Admiral Hayreddin Barbarossa.
It stands on the shore of Beşiktaş on the European part of Istanbul, at the site where his fleet used to
assemble. Oddly enough, the admiral is not buried there, but in his türbe next to the Iskele mosque. This
mausoleum has been severely neglected since then.

Mihrimah Sultan, the only daughter of Suleiman and Hurrem and wife of the Grand Vizier Rüstem Pasha
gave Sinan the commission to build a mosque with medrese (college), an imaret (soup kitchen) and a
sibyan mekteb (Qur'an school) in Üsküdar. The imaret no longer exists. This Iskele Mosque (or Jetty
mosque) already shows several hallmarks of Sinan's mature style: a spacious, high-vaulted basement,
slender minarets, single-domed baldacchino, flanked by three semi-domes ending in three exedrae and a
broad double portico. The construction was finished in 1548. The construction of a double portico was not
a first in Ottoman architecture, but it set a trend for country mosques and mosques of viziers in particular.
Rüstem Pasha and Mihrimah required them later in their three mosques in Constantinople and in the
Rüstem Pasha Mosque in Tekirdağ. The inner portico traditionally have stalactite capitals while the outer
portico has capitals with chevron patterns (baklava).

When sultan Suleiman the Magnificent returned from another Balkan campaign, he received news that his
son Şehzade Mehmed had died at the age of twenty-two. In November 1543, not long after Sinan had
started the construction of the Iskele Mosque, the sultan ordered Sinan to build a new major mosque with
an adjoining complex in memory of his favourite son. This Şehzade Mosque would become larger and
more ambitious than his previous ones. Architectural historians consider this mosque as Sinan's first
masterpiece. Obsessed by the concept of a large central dome, Sinan turned to the plans of mosques such as
the Fatih Pasha Mosque in Diyarbakır or the Piri Pasha Mosque in Hasköy. He must have visited both
mosques during his Persian campaign. Sinan built a mosque with a central dome, this time with four equal
half-domes. This superstructure is supported by four massive, but still elegant, free-standing octagonal
fluted piers and four piers incorporated in each lateral wall. In the corners, above roof level, four turrets
serve as stabilizing anchors. This coherent concept already is markedly different from the additive plans of
traditional Ottoman architecture. Sedefkar Mehmed Agha would later copy the concept of fluted piers in his
Sultan Ahmed Mosque in an attempt to lighten their appearance. Sinan, however, rejected this solution in
his next mosques.

Mid-1550s to 1570: qualification stage

By 1550, Suleiman the Magnificent was at the height of his powers. Having built a mosque for his son, he
felt it was time to construct his own imperial mosque, an enduring monument larger than all the others, to
be built on a gently sloping hillside dominating the Golden Horn. Money was no problem, since he had
accumulated a treasure from the loot of his campaigns in Europe and the Middle East. He gave the order to
Sinan to build a mosque, the Süleymaniye, surrounded by a külliye consisting of four colleges, a soup
kitchen, a hospital, an asylum, a hamam, a caravanserai and a hospice for travellers (tabhane). Sinan, now
heading a formidable department with a great number of assistants, finished this formidable task in seven
years. Before Süleymaniye, no mosques had been built with half cubic roofs. He got the idea of half cubic
roof design from the Hagia Sophia. Through this monumental achievement, Sinan emerged from the
anonymity of his predecessors. Sinan must have known the ideas of the Renaissance architect Leone
Battista Alberti (who in turn had studied De architectura by the Roman architect and engineer Vitruvius),
since he too was concerned in building the ideal church, reflecting harmony through the perfection of
geometry in architecture. But, contrary to his Western counterparts, Sinan was more interested in
simplification than in enrichment. He tried to achieve the largest volume under a single central dome. The
dome is based on the circle, the perfect geometrical figure representing, in an abstract way, a perfect God.
Sinan used subtle geometric relationships, using multiples of two when calculating the ratios and the
proportions of his buildings. However, in a later stage, he also used divisions of three or ratios of two to
three when working out the width and the proportions of domes, such as the Sokollu Mehmed Pasha
Mosque at Kadırga.

While he was fully occupied with the construction of the Süleymaniye, Sinan or his subordinates drew up
the plans and gave instructions for many other constructions. Sinan built a mosque for the Grand Vizier
Pargalı İbrahim Pasha and a mausoleum (türbe) at Silivrikapı (Constantinople) in 1551.

The next Grand Vizier, Rüstem Pasha gave Sinan several more
commissions. In 1550 he built a large inn (han) in the Galata
district of Istanbul. About ten years later he built another han in
Edirne, and between 1544 and 1561 the Taṣ Han at Erzurum. He
designed a caravanserai in Eregli and an octagonal madrasah in
Constantinople.

Between 1553 and 1555, Sinan built the Sinan Pasha Mosque at
Beşiktaş, a smaller version of the Üç Şerefeli Mosque at Edirne, for
the Grand Admiral Sinan Pasha. This proves again that Sinan had
thoroughly studied the work of other architects, especially since he
was responsible for the upkeep of these buildings. He copied the
old form, pondered over the weaknesses in the construction and Juma-Jami Mosque (Han Mosque) in
tried to solve this with his own solution. In 1554, Sinan used the Yevpatoria, Crimea
form of the Sinan Pasha mosque again for the construction of the
mosque for the next Grand Vizier Kara Ahmet Pasha in
Constantinople, his first hexagonal mosque. By using a hexagonal plan, Sinan could reduce the side domes
to half-domes and set them in the corners at an angle of 45 degrees. Clearly, Sinan must have appreciated
this form, since he repeated it later in mosques such as the Sokollu Mehmed Pasha Mosque at Kadırga and
the Atik Valide Mosque at Üsküdar.

In 1556, Sinan built the Haseki Hürrem Sultan Hamamı, replacing the antique Baths of Zeuxippus, which
are still standing close to the Hagia Sophia. This would become one of the most beautiful hamams he ever
constructed.

In 1559, he built the Cafer Ağa madrasah below the forecourt of the Hagia Sophia. In the same year he
began the construction of a small mosque for Iskender Pasha at Kanlıka, beside the Bosphorus. This was
one of the many minor and routine commissions the office of Sinan received over the years.

In 1561, when Rüstem Pasha died, Sinan began the construction of the Rüstem Pasha Mosque, as a
memorial supervised by his widow Mihrimah Sultan. It is situated just below the Süleymaniye. This time
the central form is octagonal, modelled on the monastery church of Saints Sergius and Bacchus, with four
small semi-domes set in the corners. In the same year, Sinan built a türbe for Rüstem Pasha in the garden of
the Şehzade Mosque, decorated with the finest tiles Iznik could produce. Mihrimah Sultan, having doubled
her wealth after the death of her husband, now wanted a mosque of her own. Sinan built the Mihrimah
Mosque at Edirnekapı (Edirne Gate) for her on the highest of the seven hills of Constantinople. He raised
the mosque on a vaulted platform, accentuating its hilltop site. There is some speculation concerning the
dates; until recently this was supposed to be between 1540 and 1540, but now it is generally accepted to be
between 1562 and 1565. Sinan, concerned with grandeur, built a mosque in one of his most imaginative
designs, using new support systems and lateral spaces to increase the area available for windows. He built a
central dome 37 m (121 ft) high and 20 m (66 ft) wide, supported by pendentives, on a square base with
two lateral galleries, each with three cupolas. At each corner of this square stands a gigantic pier, connected
with immense arches each with 15 large windows and four circular ones, flooding the interior with light.
The style of this revolutionary building was as close to the Gothic style as Ottoman structure permits.
In 1566 Sinan completed the Banya Bashi Mosque in Sofia, Bulgaria, currently the only functioning
mosque in the city. His first mosque in Sofia was built in 1528; popularly known as Imaret Mosque or
Black Mosque due to the dark colour of its building stone, it was damaged by an earthquake and
abandoned in the 19th century.

In the 1560s he built the Kirkcesme water supply system for Istanbul. It is seen as a masterpiece of his
work. It spans 55 km and includes 35 aqueduct bridges, 4 of which are notable for their height (up to 35m)
as well as their length (up to 700m).[46]

Between 1560 and 1566 Sinan built a mosque in Constantinople for Zal Mahmud Pasha on a hillside
beyond Ayvansaray. Sinan certainly conceived the plans and partly supervised the construction, but left the
building of lesser areas to less than competent hands, since Sinan and his most able assistants were about to
begin his masterpiece, the Selimiye Mosque in Edirne. On the outside, the mosque rises high, with its east
wall pierced by four tiers of windows. This gives the mosque an aspect of a palace or even a block of
apartments. Inside, there are three broad galleries making the interior look compact. The heaviness of this
structure makes the dome look unexpectedly lofty. These galleries look like a preliminary try-out for the
galleries of the Selimiye Mosque.

The period from 1570 to his death: master stage

In this late stage of his life,

Sinan tried to create unified
and sublimely elegant interiors.
To achieve this, he eliminated
all the unnecessary subsidiary
spaces beyond the supporting
piers of the central dome. This
Selimiye Mosque detail can be seen in the Sokollu
Mehmed Pasha Mosque in
Kadırga, Istanbul (1571–1572)
and in the Selimiye Mosque in Edirne. In other buildings of his final
period, Sinan experimented with spatial and mural treatments that were
new in the classical Ottoman architecture.

According to him from his autobiography Tezkiretü'l-Bünyan, his

Selimiye Mosque in Edirne,
masterpiece is the Selimiye Mosque in Edirne. Breaking free of the
Turkey; built by Sinan in 1575
handicaps of traditional Ottoman architecture, this mosque marks the
climax of Sinan's work and of all classical Ottoman architecture. While
it was being built, the architect's saying of "You can never build a dome larger than the dome of Hagia
Sophia and specially as Muslims" was his main motivation. When it was completed, Sinan claimed that it
had the largest dome in the world, leaving Hagia Sophia behind. In fact, the dome height from the ground
level was lower and the diameter barely larger (0.5 meters, approximately 2 feet) than the millennium-older
Hagia Sophia. However, measured from its base the dome of Selimiye is higher. Sinan was more than 80
years old when the building was finished. In this mosque he finally realized his aim of creating the
optimum, completely unified, domed interior: a triumph of space that dominates the interior. He used this
time an octagonal central dome (31.28 m wide and 42 m high), supported by eight elephantine piers of
marble and granite. These supports lack any capitals but have squinches or consoles at their summit,
leading to the optical effect that the arches seem to grow integrally out of the piers. By placing the lateral
galleries far away, he increased the three-dimensional effect. The many windows in the screen walls flood
the interior with light. The buttressing semi-domes are set in the four corners of the square under the dome.
The weight and the internal tensions are hidden, producing an airy and elegant effect rarely seen under a
central dome. The four minarets (83 m high) at the corners of the prayer hall are the tallest in the Muslim
world, accentuating the vertical posture of this mosque that already dominates the city.

He also designed the Sulaymaniyya Takiyya in Damascus, Syria,

considered to have marked the introduction of the Ottoman
architectural style to the city.[47] He has also built Mehmed Paša
Sokolović Bridge across the Drina River in Višegrad, Bosnia and
Herzegovina, which is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Conclusion
Mehmed Paša Sokolović Bridge
At the start of his career as an
in Višegrad, Bosnia and
architect, Sinan had to deal
Herzegovina; built by Sinan in
with an established, traditional
1577 and inscribed at UNESCO
domed architecture. His
training as an army engineer
led him to approach architecture from an empirical point of view,
rather than from a theoretical one. He started to experiment with the
design and engineering of single-domed and multiple-domed Mimar Sinan's architectural concepts
structures. He tried to obtain a new geometrical purity, a rationality were incorporated into the design of
and a spatial integrity in his structures and designs of mosques.
the Taj Mahal,[48][49] in the Mughal
Through all this, he demonstrated his creativity and his wish to
Empire by Shah Jahan.
create a clear, unified space. He started to develop a series of
variations on the domes, surrounding them in different ways with
semi-domes, piers, screen walls and different sets of galleries. His domes and arches are curved, but he
avoided curvilinear elements in the rest of his design, transforming the circle of the dome into a rectangular,
hexagonal or octagonal system. He tried to obtain a rational harmony between the exterior pyramidal
composition of semi-domes, culminating in a single drumless dome, and the interior space where this
central dome vertically integrates the space into a unified whole. His genius lies in the organization of this
space and in the resolution of the tensions created by the design. He was an innovator in the use of
decoration and motifs, merging them into the architectural forms as a whole. He accentuated the centre
underneath the central dome by flooding it with light from the many windows. He incorporated his
mosques in an efficient way into a complex (külliye), serving the needs of the community as an intellectual
centre, a community centre and serving the social needs and the health problems of the faithful.

When Sinan died, classical Ottoman architecture had reached its climax. No successor was gifted enough to
better the design of the Selimiye Mosque and to develop it further. His students retreated to earlier models,
such as the Şehzade mosque. Invention faded away, and a decline set in.

Constructions
During his tenure during 50 years of the post of imperial architect, Sinan is said to have constructed or
supervised 476 buildings (196 of which still survive), according to the official list of his works, the
Tezkiretü'l-Ebniye. He could not possibly have designed them all, but he relied on the skills of his office. He
took credit and the responsibility for their work. For, as a janissary, and thus a slave of the sultan, his
primary responsibility was to the sultan. In his spare time, he also designed buildings for the chief officials.
He delegated to his assistants the construction of less important buildings in the provinces.

94 large mosques (camii),

 57 colleges,
52 smaller mosques (mescit),
48 bath-houses (hamam).
35 palaces (saray),
22 mausoleums (türbe),
20 caravanserai (kervansaray; han),
17 public kitchens (imaret),
8 bridges,
8 store houses or granaries
7 Koranic schools (medrese),
6 aqueducts,
3 hospitals (darüşşifa)

Some of his works:

Sokollu Mehmed Pasha Mosque (Azapkapı)

Sokollu Mehmed Pasha Mosque (Kadırga)
Caferağa Medresseh
Selimiye Mosque in Edirne
Süleymaniye Mosque
Kılıç Ali Pasha Complex
Molla Çelebi Mosque
Haseki Baths
Haseki Sultan Complex
Çemberlitaş Baths Banya Bashi Mosque in Sofia,
Piyale Pasha Mosque Bulgaria
Şehzade Mosque
Mihrimah Sultan Mosque in Edirnekapı
Mihrimah Sultan Mosque in Üsküdar
Mehmed Paša Sokolović Bridge in Višegrad, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Banya Bashi Mosque in Sofia, Bulgaria
Nisanci Mehmed Pasha Mosque
Rüstem Pasha Mosque
Zal Mahmud Pasha Mosque
Kadirga Sokullu Mosque
Koursoum Mosque or Osman Shah Mosque in Trikala, Greece
Yavuz Sultan Selim Madras
Mimar Sinan Bridge in Büyükçekmece
Church of the Assumption in Uzundzhovo, Bulgaria
Sulaymaniyya Takiyya in Damascus, Syria
Khusruwiyah Mosque in Aleppo, Syria
Oratory at the Western Wall

Death and legacy

Sinan died in AH 996 (1587–88 CE) and is buried in a tomb in
Istanbul, a türbe of his own design, just to the north of the
Süleymaniye Mosque, across a street named Mimar Sinan Caddesi
in his honour. He was buried near the tombs of his greatest patrons:
Sultan Süleyman I and Sultana Haseki Hürrem, Suleiman's wife.
Above the iron-grilled prayer window of his tomb is an epitaph
written in Ottoman Turkish by the poet Mustafa Sai. It gives the
year of his death and records that Sinan built 400 masjids (small
mosques), 80 Friday mosques and the Kanuni Sultan Suleiman Sinan's octagonal water dispenser on
bridge at Büyükçekmece.[50] the left next to his tomb behind the
iron grill on the right, Fatih district of
In 1935, his remains were exhumed by a group of Turkish scholars. Istanbul
Proponents of the racial science popular at the time, they claimed
that measurements of Sinan's skull proved that he was actually
Turkish.[51] As of 2016, the skull is missing.[52]

His name is also given to:

a crater on the planet Mercury.

A Turkish state university, the Mimar Sinan Fine Arts
University and the Mimar Sinan Mosque, both in Sinan and the Selimiye Mosque on
Istanbul. the reverse of the Turkish 10,000 lira
banknote of 1982–1995
Sinan's portrait was depicted on the reverse of the Turkish 10,000
lira banknotes of 1982–1995[53] and a 7 500 000 lira coin of 2001
(in the "millennium" series), also on 6 postage stamps: 100 lira 1957 (400th anniversary of the opening of
the Suleymaniye Mosque), 50 lira 1988 (400th anniversary of Sinan's death) and a set of 4 issued on 14
November 2007 (60, 70, 70 & 80 Kurus - Sinan and his works).

Sinan is portrayed in Elif Shafak's 2013 novel The Architect's Apprentice, with the fictional main character
becoming his apprentice.[54]

See also
Isa Muhammad Effendi
Sedefkar Mehmed Agha
Atik Sinan
Mimar Hayruddin

Notes
Notes

Citations

1. Goodwin (2001), p. 87
2. Kinross (1977), pp 214–215
3. De Osa, Veronica.
4. Saoud (2007), p. 7
5. Vasari (1963), Book IV, p. 122
 6. "10 Most Famous Architects Who Ever Lived" (http://home.howstuffworks.com/home-improv
ement/construction/planning/10-most-famous-architects2.htm). 9 May 2012.
7. Encyclopædia Britannica. Sinan (Ottoman architect) (http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/t
opic/545603/Sinan):

Sinan, also called Mimar Sinan (“Architect Sinan”) or Mimar Koca Sinan (“Great
Architect Sinan”) (born c. 1490, Ağırnaz, Turkey—died July 17, 1588,
Constantinople [now Istanbul]), most celebrated of all Ottoman architects, whose
ideas, perfected in the construction of mosques and other buildings, served as
the basic themes for virtually all later Turkish religious and civic architecture.
The son of Greek or Armenian Christian parents, Sinan entered his father’s trade
as a stone mason and carpenter.

8. Günay, Reha (2006). A guide to the works of Sinan the architect in Istanbul (https://books.go
ogle.com/books?id=OfQjGQAACAAJ&q=A+guide+to+the+works+of+Sinan+the+Architect+i
n+Istanbul). Istanbul, Turkey: Yapı-Endüstri Merkezi Yayınları. p. 23. ISBN 975-8599-77-1.
Retrieved 2012-04-05.
9. Fletcher, R. A. (2004). The cross and the crescent : Christianity and Islam from Muhammad
to the Reformation. New York: Viking. p. 138. ISBN 0-670-03271-9. OCLC 52962828 (https://
www.worldcat.org/oclc/52962828). "...was Sinan the Old-he lived to be about ninety-an
Armenian from Anatolia who had been brought to the capital as one of the 'gathered' "
10. Zaryan, Sinan, Armenian Soviet Encyclopedia, p. 385.
11. Kouymjian, Dickran. "Armenia from the Fall of the Cilician Kingdom (1375) to the Forced
Emigration under Shah Abbas (1604)" in The Armenian People From Ancient to Modern
Times, Volume II: Foreign Dominion to Statehood: The Fifteenth Century to the Twentieth
Century. Richard G. Hovannisian (ed.). New York: St. Martin's Press, 1997, p. 13. ISBN 0-
312-10168-6.
12. Alboyajian (1937), vol. 2, pp. 1533-34.
13. Jackson, Thomas Graham (1913). Byzantine and Romanesque Architecture, Volume 1.
Cambridge University Press. p. 143 (https://books.google.com/books?id=YjDNAAAAMAAJ&
pg=PA143). "They are many of them designed by Sinan, who is said to have been an
Armenian"
14. Sitwell, Sacheverell (1939). Old Fashioned Flowers (https://archive.org/details/oldfashionedf
low00sitw). Country Life. p. 74 (https://archive.org/details/oldfashionedflow00sitw/page/n93).
"The architect Sinan, perhaps of Armenian descent, raised mosques and other buildings all
over the Turkish Empire."
15. "Sinan, an Armenian architect": Chisholm, Hugh. The Encyclopaedia Britannica; A
Dictionary of Arts, Sciences, Literature and General Information. 1910, page 426.
16. "Sinan, born an Armenian Christian": Peters, Ralph. Beyond Baghdad. 2005, page 82.
17. "Although Turks today bridle at the suggestion, Sinan was probably an Armenian.": Muller,
Herbert. The Loom of History. 1958, page 305.
18. Dadoyan, Seta B. (2017). The Armenians in the Medieval Islamic World: Armenian
Realpolitik in the Islamic World and Diverging Paradigmscase of Cilicia Eleventh to
Fourteenth Centuries. p. 53; "One such case is that of the Ottoman imperial architect Sinan,
an Armenian from Caesarea, who prevented the deportation of his family to Cyprus."
19. Danforth, Nicholas (2021). The Remaking of Republican Turkey. Cambridge University
Press. p. 125. ISBN 978-1-108-83324-0. "Mimar Sinan's Armenian ancestry can now serve
as evidence of Ottoman pluralism."
20. Talbot, Hamlin Architecture Through the Ages. University of Michigan, p. 208.
21. Byzantium and the Magyars, Gyula Moravcsik, Samuel R. Rosenbaum p.28.
22. Kathleen Kuiper. Islamic Art, Literature, and Culture. — The Rosen Publishing Group, 2009
— p. 204 — ISBN 9781615300976: "The son of Greek Orthodox parents, Sinan entered his
father's trade as a stone mason and carpenter." .
23. Sinan: the grand old master of Ottoman architecture, p. 35, Aptullah Kuran, Institute of
Turkish Studies, 1987
24. Walker, Benjamin and Peter Owen Foundations of Islam: the making of a world faith, 1998,
p. 275.
25. Goodwin 2003, p. 199.
26. Rogers, J. M. (2006). Sinan: Makers of Islamic Civilization (https://archive.org/details/sinan0
000roge/page/). I.B.Tauris: Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies. p. backcover (https://archive.or
g/details/sinan0000roge/page/). ISBN 978-1-84511-096-3. "(Sinan) He was born in
Cappadocia, probably into a Greek Christian family. Drafted into the Janissaries during his
adolescence, he rapidly gained promotion and distinction as a military engineer."
27. Cragg, Kenneth (1991). The Arab Christian: A History in the Middle East (https://books.googl
e.com/books?id=pMuxLlWih04C&pg=PA120). Westminster John Knox Press. p. 120.
ISBN 0-664-22182-3.
28. al-Lubnānī lil-Dirāsāt, Markaz (1992). The Beirut review, Issue 3 (https://books.google.com/b
ooks?id=Cf26AAAAIAAJ&q=sinan+albanian+origin). Lebanese Center for Policy Studies.
p. 113. Retrieved 2012-04-05.
29. Brown, Percy (1942). Indian architecture: (The Islamic period) (https://books.google.com/boo
ks?id=e-VOAAAAYAAJ&q=the+fame+of+the+leading+Ottoman+architect,+Sinan,+having+r
eached+his+ears,+he+is+reported+to+have+invited+certain+pupils+of+this+Albanian+geni
us+to+India+to+carry+out+his+architectural+schemes.). Taraporevala Sons. p. 94. "… the
fame of the leading Ottoman architect, Sinan, having reached his ears, he is reported to
have invited certain pupils of this Albanian genius to India to carry out his architectural
schemes."
30. Akgündüz Ahmed & Öztürk Said, (2011), Ottoman History, Misperfections and Truths, IUR
Press (Islamitische Universiteit Rotterdam), Pg.196, See online (https://books.google.com/b
ooks?id=EnT_zhqEe5cC). Quoted from the book: "some Jewish writers claimed that the
actual name of Sinan the Architect was Yusuf Sinan and was, accordingly, Jewish...
According to yet another view, Sinan came from a Christian Turkish family, whose father's
name was Abdulmennan and his grandfather's Doğan Yusuf."
31. Goodwin 2003, pp. 199–200.
32. Necipoğlu 2007, p. 147.
33. Constantinople, de Byzance à Stamboul, Celâl Esad Arseven, H. Laurens, 1909
34. Muller, Herbert Joseph (1961). The Loom of History. New American Library. p. 439.
35. Kuran, Aptullah (1987). Sinan: The Grand Old Master of Ottoman Architecture (https://books.
google.com/books?id=WL_YAAAAMAAJ). Institute of Turkish Studies. p. 35. ISBN 978-0-
941469-00-5.
36. Kuban, Doğan (1997). Sinan's Art and Selimiye (https://books.google.com/books?id=b9XVA
AAAMAAJ). Economic and Social History Foundation. p. 29. ISBN 978-975-7306-30-6.
"Konyalı reports that Ağırnas was a Greek village with no Armenian inhabitants, and that
before the Greeks evacuated the village a Greek family named Taşçıoğlu had claimed Sinan
as a member of their own family."
37. Daskalov, Roumen; Vezenkov, Alexander (2015). Entangled Histories of the Balkans -
Volume Three: Shared Pasts, Disputed Legacies (https://books.google.com/books?id=WDR
zBwAAQBAJ&pg=PA385). BRILL. p. 285. ISBN 978-90-04-29036-5. "Mimar Sinan (1539–
1588) is undoubtedly one of the greatest architects of the sixteenth century. He was not a
Turk but a Greek from Cappadocia (or a Bulgarian from Shiroka Lăka, according to a local
variant)."
38. Encyclopædia Britannica: Sinan (Ottoman architect) (http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/t
opic/545603/Sinan)
39. Kinross, pp 214–215.
40. Sinan (in Dictionary of Islamic Architecture) (http://archnet.org/library/dictionary/entry.jsp?entr
y_id=DIA0848) Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/20110604194826/http://archnet.org/lib
rary/dictionary/entry.jsp?entry_id=DIA0848) 2011-06-04 at the Wayback Machine
41. A list of the buildings designed by Mimar Sinan (http://cadde.milliyet.com.tr/2013/12/30/Habe
rDetay/1656832/iSTANBUL_A_iMZASINI_ATTI)
42. The Drina Bridge gave its name to the famous novel "Na Drini ćuprija" by the Yugoslav
author Ivo Andrić.
43. Tracy, James D.; Savitri Mahajan (2000). City Walls: The Urban Enceinte in Global
Perspective (https://books.google.com/books?id=S7dUv-1Ql2oC&q=%22the+architect+may
+have+been+Sinan%22). Cambridge University Press. p. 306. ISBN 978-0-521-65221-6.
Retrieved 2012-04-07.
44. Gjergji Frasheri (2000). Fjalori Enciklopedik Shqiptar. Akademia e Shkencave e Shqipërisë.
p. 2946. ISBN 978-99956-10-32-6.
45. Albanian Cultural Heritage (https://web.archive.org/web/20101008023655/http://www.akt.go
v.al/materiale/kultura%20blerina.pdf) (PDF). Republic of Albania, National Tourism Agency.
2000. p. 59. Archived from the original (http://www.akt.gov.al/materiale/kultura%20blerina.pd
f) (PDF) on 2010-10-08. Retrieved 2012-04-07.
46. Harmancioglu, Nilgun B.; Altinbilek, Dogan (2019-06-04). Water Resources of Turkey.
Springer. p. 46. ISBN 978-3-030-11729-0.
47. Gérard Degeorge (1994). Damas. p. 46.
48. William J. Hennessey, PhD, Director, Univ. of Michigan Museum of Art. IBM 1999 WORLD
BOOK.
49. Marvin Trachtenberg and Isabelle Hyman. Architecture: from Prehistory to Post-Modernism.
p. 223.
50. Necipoĝlu 2005, p. 147.
51. Hanioğlu, M. Şükrü (2013). Atatürk: An Intellectual Biography. Princeton, NJ: Princeton
University Press. p. 171. ISBN 9780691157948.
52. "Turkey's PM orders hunt for Ottoman architect's skull" (https://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-ne
ws-from-elsewhere-36015767). BBC News. 11 April 2016. Retrieved 29 July 2021.
53. Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey (http://www.tcmb.gov.tr/yeni/eng/) Archived (https://w
ww.webcitation.org/5hFIaQq0J?url=http://www.tcmb.gov.tr/yeni/eng/) 2009-06-03 at
WebCite. Banknote Museum: 7. Emission Group - Ten Thousand Turkish Lira - I. Series (htt
p://www.tcmb.gov.tr/yeni/banknote/E7/284.htm) Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/20090
729061754/http://www.tcmb.gov.tr/yeni/banknote/E7/284.htm) 2009-07-29 at the Wayback
Machine, II. Series (http://www.tcmb.gov.tr/yeni/banknote/E7/286.htm) Archived (https://web.a
rchive.org/web/20090729061833/http://www.tcmb.gov.tr/yeni/banknote/E7/286.htm) 2009-
07-29 at the Wayback Machine, III. Series (http://www.tcmb.gov.tr/yeni/banknote/E7/288.htm)
Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/20090729063212/http://www.tcmb.gov.tr/yeni/banknot
e/E7/288.htm) 2009-07-29 at the Wayback Machine & IV. Series (http://www.tcmb.gov.tr/yeni/
banknote/E7/290.htm) Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/20090729063638/http://www.tc
mb.gov.tr/yeni/banknote/E7/290.htm) 2009-07-29 at the Wayback Machine. – Retrieved on
20 April 2009.
54. Elif Shafak (6 November 2014). "The Architect's Apprentice by Elif Shafak -
Waterstones.com" (http://www.waterstones.com/waterstonesweb/products/elif+shafak/the+ar
chitect27s+apprentice/10849506/). waterstones.com.

Sources
Goodwin, Godfrey (2003) [1971]. A History of Ottoman Architecture. London: Thames &
Hudson. ISBN 978-0-500-27429-3.
Necipoĝlu, Gülru (2005). The Age of Sinan: Architectural Culture in the Ottoman Empire.
London: Reaktion Books. ISBN 978-1-86189-244-7.
Necipoğlu, Gülru (2007). "Creation of a national genius: Sinan and the historiography of
"classical" Ottoman architecture". Muqarnas. 24: 141–183. JSTOR 25482458 (https://www.js
tor.org/stable/25482458).

Further reading
(in Armenian) Alboyachian, Arshag A. Patmutiwn Hay Kesarioy: teghagrakan, patmakan, ew
azgagrakan usumnasirutiwn [History of Armenian Kayseri: A topographical, historical, and
ethnographic study]. 2 vols. Cairo: H. Papazian, 1937.
(in Turkish) Çelebi, Sai Mustafa (2004). Book of Buildings: Tezkiretü'l-Bünyan ve Tezkiretü'l-
Ebniye (Memoirs of Sinan the Architect). Koç Kültür Sanat Tanıtım ISBN 975-296-017-0
Crane, Howard; Akın, Esra; Necipoĝlu, Gülru, eds. (2006). Sinan's Autobiographies: Five
Sixteenth-century Texts. Leiden: Brill. ISBN 978-90-04-14168-1.
De Osa, Veronica (1982). Sinan the Turkish Michelangelo. New York: Vantage Press
ISBN 0-533-04655-6
(in German) Egli, Ernst (1954). Sinan, der Baumeister osmanischer Glanzzeit, Erlenbach-
Zürich, Verlag für Architektur; ISBN 1-904772-26-9
Egli, Hans G. (1997). Sinan: An Interpretation. Istanbul: Ege Yayınları. ISBN 978-
9758070121.
Goodwin, Godfrey (2001). The Janissaries. London: Saqi Books. ISBN 978-0-86356-055-2
Güler, Ara; Burelli, Augusto Romano; Freely, John (1992). Sinan: Architect of Suleyman the
Magnificent and the Ottoman Golden Age. WW Norton & Co. Inc. ISBN 0-500-34120-6
Kinross, Patrick (1977). The Ottoman Centuries: The Rise and Fall of the Turkish Empire
London: Perennial. ISBN 978-0-688-08093-8
Kuran, Aptullah. (1987). Sinan: The Grand Old Master of Ottoman architecture, Ada Press
Publishers. ISBN 0-941469-00-X
 (in Turkish) Kuran, Aptullah; Ara Güler (Illustrator); Mustafa Niksarli (Illustrator). (1986) Mimar
Sinan. Istanbul: Hürriyet Vakfi. ISBN 3-89122-007-3
Rogers, J M. (2005). Sinan. I.B. Tauris ISBN 1-84511-096-X
Saoud, Rabat (2007). Sinan: The Great Ottoman Architect and Urban Designer (http://www.
muslimheritage.com/uploads/Mimar_Sinan_Great_Ottoman_Architect.pdf). Manchester:
Foundation for Science, Technology and Civilisation.
Sewell, Brian. (1992) Sinan: A Forgotten Renaissance (http://www.cornucopia.net/highlights
3full.html) Cornucopia, Issue 3, Volume 1. ISSN 1301-8175 (https://www.worldcat.org/searc
h?fq=x0:jrnl&q=n2:1301-8175)
Sezgin, A. 'Dramatizing an Architect Hero: Sinan in Fiction' in The Meeting Place of British
Middle Eastern Studies: Emerging Scholars, Emergent Research & Approaches (2009),
p. 119-143.
Stratton, Arthur (1972). Sinan. Macmillan Publishers. ISBN 0-333-02901-1.
Turner, J. (1996). Grove Dictionary of Art, Oxford University Press, USA; New Ed edition;
ISBN 0-19-517068-7
Van Vynckt, Randall J. (editor). (1993) International Dictionary of Architects and Architecture
Volume 1. Detroit: St James Press. ISBN 1-55862-089-3
Vasari, G. (1963). The Lives of Painters, Sculptors and Architects. (Four volumes) Trans:
A.B. Hinds, Editor: William Gaunt. London and New York: Everyman.
Wilkins, David G. Synan in Van Vynckt (1993), p. 826.
A Guide to Ottoman Bulgaria" by Dimana Trankova, Anthony Georgieff and Professor Hristo
Matanov; published by Vagabond Media, Sofia, 2011 [1] (https://web.archive.org/web/20111
115040440/http://www.vagabond.bg/ottomanbulgaria/)

Tertiary Sources

(in Armenian) Zaryan, Armen. «Սինան» (Sinan). Armenian Soviet Encyclopedia. vol. x.
Yerevan: Armenian Academy of Sciences, 1984, pp. 385–386.

(in French) Roux, Jean-Paul (1988). "Les Mosquées de Sinan", Les Dossiers d'archéologie,
May 1988, number 127.
(in French) Stierlin, Henri (1988). "Sinan et Soliman le Magnifique", Les Dossiers
d'archéologie, May 1988, number 127.
(in French) Topçu, Ali (1988a) "Sinan et l'architecture civile", Les Dossiers d'archéologie,
May 1988, number 127.
(in French) Topçu, Ali (1988b)."Sinan et la modernité", Les Dossiers d'archéologie, May
1988, number 127.

External links
Mimar Sinan founder of this Foundation - with a picture of his last will and proof of his
original name (https://web.archive.org/web/20090901075716/http://www.yusufagavakfi.com/)
(in Turkish)
Pictures of the city of Edirne, with many pictures of the Selimiye Mosque (http://www.pbase.c
om/dosseman/edirne_turkey)
Pictures of some 30 mosques by Sinan in Istanbul (http://www.pbase.com/dosseman/sinanis
t)
A map and a short guide for Sinan's works in Istanbul (https://web.archive.org/web/2006042
 6222613/http://www.cekulvakfi.org.tr/icerik/icerik.asp?sayfaID=128) (in Turkish)
Photos of some Sinan mosques in Istanbul (https://web.archive.org/web/20060414144904/ht
tp://newmanservices.com/turkey/sinan.asp)
Map of some Sinan mosques in Istanbul (https://web.archive.org/web/20060427024521/htt
p://newmanservices.com/turkey/map.asp)
Master Builder of the 16th Century Ottoman Mosque (http://mimoza.marmara.edu.tr/~avni/H6
2SANAT/mimarsinan.hayati.htm)
Mimar Sinan Bridge in Büyükçekmece (https://web.archive.org/web/20090727210410/http://
www.istan-bul.org/indexer.php?x=28.571459&y=41.0219379&l=15&f=255)
The Ottoman architect who linked East and West (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/fro
m_our_own_correspondent/8512512.stm)
Peerless Turkish architect claimed to be headless in tomb (https://web.archive.org/web/2011
0717113318/http://www.turkishpress.com/news.asp?id=364816)
Mimar Sinan's life and works (http://www.mimarsinan.gen.tr) (in Turkish)

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mimar_Sinan&oldid=1146727406"