Selimiye Mosque and its Social Complex (Edirne - Turkey)
N 41° 40.673 E 026° 33.561
35T E 463322 N 4614106
Stunning Selimiye Mosque, surrounded by complex of another beautiful buildings with social fuctions, is not only the key architectonic monument of town Edirne, but also one of the world-best pieces of islamic architecture.
Waymark Code: WMERP0
Location: Türkiye
Date Posted: 07/02/2012
Views: 7
Stunning Selimiye Mosque, surrounded by complex of another beautiful buildings with social fuctions, is not only the key architectonic monument of town Edirne, but also one of the world-best pieces of islamic architecture.
The Selimiye Mosque, located in the old centre of historic Ottoman capital Edirne, was specially built for Sultan Selim II by the greatest Ottoman architect Mimar Sinan between 1569-1575. The Selimiye Mosque is considered as a masterpiece and the highest achievement of Mimar Sinan in Islamic architecture. This majestic mosque stands at the heart of a Kulliye - a multiplex of a hospital, library, and school around a mosque. The Kulliye comprises of a medrese (Islamic academy that teaches both Islamic and Scientific lessons), an Al-Hadith School, a row of shops and the timekeeper's quarter. Sinan make used of an octagonal supporting system for this mosque that is built through eight pillars cut into a square shell of walls. The single mosque great dome has a diameter of 31.5 m over a prayer space of 45 m × 36 m, and with its four soaring minarets it dominates the Edirne's city skyline.
Selimiye Mosque and its Social Complex were inscripted into UNESCO World Heritage List in 2011.