Sinan

: Sinan should not be confused with Sinan Pasha.

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Koca Mimar Sinan Agha (April 15, 1489 - July 17, 1588) was the Ottoman chief architect for sultans Selim I, Suleiman I, Selim II and Murad III. His masterpiece is the Selimiye Mosque in Edirne although his most famous work is the Suleiman Mosque in Istanbul.

Related Topics:
April 15 - 1489 - July 17 - 1588 - Ottoman - Selim I - Suleiman I - Selim II - Murad III - Selimiye Mosque - Edirne - Suleiman Mosque - Istanbul

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Sinan was most probably born to an Orthodox Christian family. In 1511 he was forcibly conscripted into Ottoman service and he went to Istanbul as a dev?irme recruit and served the Vizier ?brahim Pa?a as a novice of the Palace School. Three years later he, a skilled architect and engineer, took part of Selim's military campaigns into east, as a part of the engineering corps. When the Ottoman army captured Cairo, Sinan was promoted chief architect and was given the privilege of tearing down any buildings in the captured city that were not according to the city plan. He was also appointed commander of an infantry division, but was, at his own request, transferred to the command of the artillery instead. During a Persian campaign in 1535 he built ships for the army 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 A?a.

Related Topics:
Orthodox Christian - 1511 - Istanbul - Dev?irme - Vizier - ?brahim Pa?a - Cairo - Persian - 1535 - Lake Van - Sergeant-at-Arms - Janissary

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The first work of Sinan was the ?ehzade Mosque which he built in 1548. He started constructing the Süleymaniye Mosque in 1550. This great work was finished in 1557. He has also built many mosques and another buildings in and around Istanbul, for instance the Selimiye Mosque in Edirne, Rüstem Pasha Mosque in Istanbul, Kadirga Sokullu Complex in Istanbul. He also designed the Taqiyya al-Sulaimaniyya khan and mosque in Damascus,. still considered one of the city's most notable monuments.

Related Topics:
1548 - Süleymaniye Mosque - 1550 - 1557 - Selimiye Mosque - Edirne - Taqiyya al-Sulaimaniyya - Khan - Damascus

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Sinan is said to have constructed 84 great mosques (cami), 52 smaller mosques (mescit), 57 universities, 7 schools (medrese), 22 mausoleums (türbe), 17 public kitchens (imaret), 3 hospitals (darü??ifa), 6 aqueducts, 8 bridges, 20 caravansary (kervansaray; han), 35 palaces (saray), 8 store houses and 41 bath-houses (hamam). He died in 1588 and is buried in a tomb just outside the walls of the Süleymaniye Mosque to the north, across a street named Mimar Sinan Caddesi in his honour. He is also honored with a crater on Mercury named after him (see List of craters on Mercury).

Related Topics:
Medrese - Aqueduct - Caravansary - Hamam - 1588 - Süleymaniye Mosque - List of craters on Mercury

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