The Süleymaniye Mosque is a mosque in Istanbul, built between 1551 and 1557 by the renowned Ottoman architect Mimar Sinan on behalf of Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent. Considered the masterpiece of Sinan’s "apprenticeship period," the mosque is a central part of the Süleymaniye Complex (külliye), which also includes madrasahs (religious schools), a library, a hospital, a primary school, a bathhouse (hamam), a soup kitchen (imaret), a cemetery (hazire), and shops.

The Süleymaniye Mosque is one of the most significant examples of Classical Ottoman Architecture. Despite more than a hundred earthquakes occurring in Istanbul since its construction, no cracks have appeared in the mosque’s walls. The mosque rests on four massive piers known as “elephant feet.” Its main dome is 53 meters high and 27.5 meters in diameter. Like Hagia Sophia, the central dome is supported by two semi-domes. There are 32 windows in the dome’s drum that allow light to flood into the interior.

Each of the mosque courtyard’s four corners has a minaret. Two of these minarets, adjacent to the mosque, have three balconies (şerefe) each and stand 76 meters high. The other two, located at the corners of the courtyard’s northern facade, have two balconies and are 56 meters tall.

The mosque was ingeniously constructed to create a special airflow that would gather soot from oil lamps at a single point. This airflow directed the soot to a room above the main entrance, where it was collected and later used in ink production. In the center of the courtyard, surrounded by 28 porticos (revak), there is a rectangular ablution fountain (şadırvan).

On the qibla (Mecca-facing) side of the mosque lies a cemetery containing the tombs of Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent and his wife Hürrem Sultan. The dome of Suleiman’s tomb is decorated with diamonds (or cut glass resembling diamonds) placed between metallic plates to create the image of a starry sky.

The mosque has a relatively modest interior in terms of decoration. The windows on the mihrab wall are adorned with stained glass. On the windows flanking the mihrab are ceramic medallions featuring verses from Surah al-Fath (The Victory), and at the center of the main dome is written verse 41 of Surah Fatir. The mosque’s calligraphy was done by Hasan Çelebi.

The mosque has four minarets, symbolizing that Sultan Suleiman was the fourth sultan after the conquest of Istanbul. The ten balconies on the minarets represent that he was the tenth sultan of the Ottoman Empire. The main dome arch was named "Kemer-i Kübra" (the Great Arch or Arch of Power) by Sinan. The mosque courtyard is built on a platform higher than the road on the Golden Horn side, giving it a commanding presence over the landscape.