The famous Ottoman architect Sinan supervised the construction of the Selimiye Mosque in the city of Edirne (Anatolia)

The Selimiye Mosque maintains special interest among visitors to the city of Edirne (western Turkey), as it is considered an Ottoman masterpiece with its unique architectural characteristics, despite the passage of more than 4 centuries since its construction.

The famous Ottoman architect Sinan Agha - who supervised the construction of the mosque - described it as a masterpiece that sparkles like the necklace that adorns the city of Edirne with its splendor.

An architectural masterpiece on the UNESCO list

The United Nations Organization for Culture, Science and Arts (UNESCO) included the Selimiye Mosque on the list of cultural heritage in 2011. It was the first mosque to be included in the aforementioned list, and it gained greater international fame after the inclusion, becoming the focus of everyone’s attention.

One of the architectural characteristics that distinguishes the mosque from others is its giant dome, which was created as a single dome without relying on any half-dome. It amazes those interested, and those conducting studies on architecture and engineering, with its height of 43 meters and its diameter of 32 meters.

Selimiye Mosque has 4 thin, pen-shaped minarets, each 85 meters high, and each minaret has 3 balconies (Anatolia)

Interest in architectural style

The Selimiye Mosque has 4 thin, pen-shaped minarets, each 85 meters high. Each minaret has 3 balconies. The mosque also impresses its visitors with the beauty of its courtyard with a portico and colorful ceramics.

The mosque that those coming to the city see for the first time is a small mosque that dazzles the eye with its size and splendor as they approach it. The building that was built by order of the Ottoman Sultan Selim represents the pinnacle of Sinan’s mastery.

The architect Sinan (1489-1588) built the mosque on the commission of the Ottoman Sultan Selim II in 1568. He built it on a high hill overlooking all parts of the city. It took 7 years to build, and it was opened for worship in 1575, but Sultan Selim II died shortly before the construction was completed. .

Important social history

The general director of the Sinan and Selimiye Mosque Endowment and a lecturer at the University of Thrace (governmental), architect Muhammad Ali Asmar, said, “In addition to being a place of worship when it was built, the Selimiye Mosque also served as an educational center and a meeting place where the city’s problems were discussed.”

He pointed out that public buildings in that period were used for many purposes, noting, "If we look at Selimiye from this perspective, it is the largest gathering area, and it is a model for the five great Turkish states and one great nation, and the mosque is considered a very important story for Turkish history."

Asmar pointed out that the pulpits that appear in the corners of the mosque were used as scientific podiums when the mosque was built, “and the pulpits in the universities came from here, and it also has a view that creates the perception of a single space, as it is the mosque with the largest dome.”

“While the architect Sinan was doing this, of course he performed wonderful mathematical calculations, worked very scientifically, made acoustic calculations, and analyzed everything from ventilation to earthquake calculations perfectly, as he solved every problem with the mosque’s structure,” according to the Turkish engineer.

Muhammad Ali Asmar: Sinan used the golden ratio measurements very well and applied the building’s defense system against earthquakes (Anatolia)

Perfect building proportions

Regarding the elaborate construction of the mosque, Asmar said that the most important thing that distinguishes the mosque is “its structural system that reduces the load on it, and the load of the dome is distributed over 8 arms, the four arms of which go down to the supports. These supports are two after the other on the sides, and the other four arms go under the minarets.”

“The minarets are not actually for display purposes only, but also for installation, and all the proportions in the building are natural proportions, and Sinan used the measurements of the golden ratio very well, and when we look at the building from a distance, we see that they all draw an angle of 52 degrees horizontally, that is, the angle that... The hourglass takes it naturally when it pours its sand on the ground,” according to the general director of the Sinan and Salamiyah Mosque Endowment.

He added, "This is the building's defense system against earthquakes. This was used very well, and when examining the mosque it hides a lot of features in the details."

Ismet Osmanoglu: Selimiye Mosque achieved a great success for Turkish architecture with its lifting system, construction technology and decorations (Anatolia)

World Architecture Summit

For his part, lecturer at the Faculty of Architecture at the University of Thrace, Ismet Osmanoglu, said that Selimiye Mosque is one of the buildings that represents the pinnacle of world architecture.

Osmanoglu stated that the architect Sinan developed the central space system with the half dome, and collected the central space under one dome in the mosque, and the internal and external unity of the architectural space was achieved. It was a great moment for world architecture. This innovation is actually a great progress.

He added that the architect Sinan built many model mosques, “however, the construction he achieved with the Selimiye Mosque achieved great success for Turkish and international architecture, and it was at an advanced stage of architecture in terms of the system of lifting, construction, architecture, construction technology, decorative arts, and manufacturing.”

Regarding the mosque’s restoration operations, Osmanoglu explained that the mosque was restored for the first time during the reign of Sultan Mustafa III after it was damaged in the Edirne earthquake in 1752, and the building was renewed several times after the restorations that took place in the 18th century.

He said in this regard, “It underwent a major repair process in the 1860s, and in the following years maintenance was carried out from time to time, and even the interior decorations were changed.”

In the 19th century, the decorations were replaced with Baroque decorations, and its last repair was in 1980. It underwent a comprehensive restoration process, and the hand-painted decorations and works on the dome date back to that period.

He continued, "In 2021, a new restoration process began in Selimiye due to the need for this, and to complete the structural problems that arose and the shortcomings of the restoration in 1980, and the restoration work reached a very advanced point."

He concluded by saying, "The restoration carried out at the Selimiye Mosque is a very scientific restoration, and will protect the building for another 100 years."

Source: Anadolu Agency