Mimar Sinan

C. 1490–1588 · Ottoman · 8 buildings on the wall

Mimar Sinan (c. 1490–1588) was chief architect of the Ottoman Empire for nearly 50 years, serving the sultans Suleiman the Magnificent, Selim II and Murad III. Before he was an architect he was a Janissary officer, and on campaign he learned to build fortifications, roads, bridges and aqueducts. As chief architect he oversaw all building work in the empire and was responsible for more than 300 major structures.

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Sinan studied the great domed buildings before him, including the Hagia Sophia, and returned again and again to the large central dome. The Şehzade Mosque in Istanbul (1548), which he called a work of his apprenticeship, sets its dome on four equal half-domes carried by four free-standing piers. The Süleymaniye Mosque in Istanbul (1557), his most famous work, was finished when he was about 70. His masterpiece is held to be the Selimiye Mosque in Edirne (1575), a UNESCO World Heritage Site with its complex since 2011. The Mehmed Paša Sokolović Bridge over the Drina at Višegrad (1577) is also on the World Heritage list. Mimar Sinan's buildings are studied for structure, the central dome and the planning of whole complexes.

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