Süleymaniye Mosque

The Süleymaniye crowns Istanbul's third hill, overlooking the Golden Horn. Mimar Sinan built it for Suleiman the Magnificent in 1550–1557 and regarded it as the masterpiece of his "journeyman" period.

Around the mosque rose a huge complex of madrasas, a hospital, a soup kitchen, a caravanserai, a bathhouse and a library. Its four minarets have ten balconies in all, read as a symbol of Suleiman being the tenth Ottoman sultan.

The tombs of Suleiman and Hürrem Sultan stand in the graveyard, and Mimar Sinan lies in a modest tomb at the corner of the complex. The Süleymaniye is part of the UNESCO site "Historic Areas of Istanbul".