Şehzade Mosque

The Şehzade Mosque on Istanbul's third hill is the first imperial commission of architect Mimar Sinan, built between 1545 and 1548 to honor Sultan Suleiman's deceased son Prince Mehmed. Although Sinan considered this central-domed structure his apprentice work, its design heavily influenced later landmarks like the Blue Mosque. Prince Mehmed's 1544 mausoleum contains an ivory-inlaid wooden throne atop his sarcophagus.

Istanbul · from the walk “Sultans, Spices & Hidden Streets” · audio ~3 min · Generated

Şehzade Camii, Şehzadebaşı Cd., Fatih, İstanbul

Why did Sultan Suleiman commission Mimar Sinan to build the Şehzade Mosque in Istanbul?

Look at this mosque before you... the Shehzade Cami, the Prince's Mosque, rising from Istanbul's third hill. It looks serene now, but this building was born from one of the deepest sorrows in Ottoman history.......... The year was fifteen forty-three. Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent had just returned victorious from a military campaign in Hungary... when devastating news reached him. His beloved son, Shehzade Mehmed, had died from smallpox. The prince was only twenty-two years old. Suleiman loved and favored Mehmed, and had appointed him as heir contrary to tradition. The great traveler Evliya Chelebi described Mehmed as "a prince of more exquisite qualities than even Mustafa... with a piercing intellect and a subtle judgment."

...... And here is where the grief becomes architecture. Suleiman personally mourned at his son's temporary tomb for Forty days... forty days of a father's sorrow before the greatest empire on earth. Then he summoned his architect. Mimar Sinan received what would become his first imperial commission.......... The mausoleum of Mehmed was the first element completed, finished in fifteen forty-four. The mosque and the rest of the complex followed between fifteen forty-five and fifteen forty-eight. And inside that mausoleum... do you know what sits atop Mehmed's sarcophagus? An ivory-inlaid wooden throne, symbolizing Suleiman's wish for his son to one day be sultan. A throne for a prince who would never reign.......... Now look at those twin minarets. The level of decorative detail carved into them is Particular to this mosque and was rarely repeated. This is the Only non-sultanic mosque Sinan designed with two minarets, each bearing two balconies. A prince's mosque... given almost imperial honors.......... Sinan himself called this his apprentice work and was never satisfied with it. He never repeated its layout in any of his later designs. But here is the twist. The very plan he rejected, with its central dome and four semi-domes, proved so popular that later architects copied it again and again... in the Blue Mosque, the New Mosque at Eminönü, even the reconstruction of the Fatih Mosque!......... And one more secret. It was said that a green column in the cemetery wall of this complex marks the exact Center of Istanbul. Whether that is legend or truth... there is something poetic about it. A father placed his son's memorial at the very heart of the city he loved.

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