Mimar Sinan (“Architect Sinan”)

Sinan (b. 1490–d. 1588) served as the Chief Imperial Architect of the Ottoman Empire in the 16th century for fifty years during the reign of three sultans: Süleyman (d. 1566), Selim II (r. d. 1574), and Murat III (d. 1595). The majority of his career coincided with the golden age of the Ottomans under Sultan Süleyman the Lawgiver’s rule. Heading the Corps of the Royal Architects (hassa mimarları) for almost fifty years, he oversaw building and infrastructure activities in major Ottoman cities of Istanbul, Edirne, and Iznik as well as other smaller provinces. Under the patronage of the sultan, his family, and many upper-class Ottoman bureaucrats, Sinan built and renovated mosque complexes, single mosques, schools, bazaars, caravanserais, public baths, public kitchens, palaces, hospitals, fountains, bridges, aqueducts, and tombs. He was celebrated as the “divine maestro” of his time. Attracting visitors, architects, and İresearchers from all around the world, his large-scale mosques such as the Süleymaniye Complex in Istanbul and the Selimiye in Edirne have been iconic landmarks in the city silhouettes for centuries. Sinan himself became a national hero in modern Turkey. Sinan had a lifelong interest in the ancient Byzantine monument, the Hagia Sophia and its all-encompassing yet fragile dome, which he had to renovate at one stage. Despite their completely different ritual programs, he emulated Hagia Sophia with subtle variations in many of his projects, aspiring to build large-scale domes uniting with the spaces underneath them within structures of sound stability. Sinan is also the first Ottoman architect who left memoirs for future generations through which he desired to be remembered with well-wishes. He was buried at the tomb he allocated for himself within the site of the Süleymaniye Complex. Comparable with European Renaissance artists and architects, he is the most famous architect in the history of Islamic art and architecture. Studies and publications on Architect Sinan are too numerous to be all listed here. The selected works are based on their depth of scholarly engagement with architectural historiography and the width of their educational audience.