At a glance
Era 8- Dates
- c. 1490-1588 CE
- Who
- Chief architect of the Ottoman Empire for fifty years
- Era
- The Ottomans
ProfileMimar Sinan
Sinan was born around 1490 to a Christian family in Anatolia, the son of a stonemason. At about twenty-one he was taken through the devshirme, became a Muslim, studied building in the palace schools and joined the Janissaries as a military engineer.
On campaign with Suleiman he built bridges and ships and learned how buildings bear weight. In 1539 he became chief architect, and he held the post for fifty years. He is credited with 477 buildings, among them mosques, schools, hospitals, baths, bridges and aqueducts. His great mosques include the Sehzade, the Suleymaniye in Istanbul and the Selimiye in Edirne, which he called his masterpiece. His domes seem to float, his interiors are full of light, and his buildings have survived centuries of earthquakes.
He trained many students, including the architect of the Blue Mosque. He died in 1588, close to a hundred years old, and is buried beside the Suleymaniye.
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