The Süleymaniye Mosque is the second largest mosque in the city, and one of the best-known sights of Istanbul.

This outstanding mosque was built in the 16th century by the famous Ottoman architect Mimar Sinan for Sultan Süleyman the Magnificient. It combines tall, slender minarets (typical of Ottoman architecture) with large domed buildings supported by half domes in the style of the Byzantine church Hagia Sophia (which the Ottomans converted into the mosque of Aya Sofya).
The design also plays on Süleyman’s ‘second Solomon’ ego, as it references the Dome of the Rock, which was built on the site of the Temple of Solomon. The courtyard is of exceptional grandeur with a colonnaded peristyle.
The tombs of the Sultan, his wife Hürrem, and Mimar Sinan are found within its compounds. It is the largest mosque in Istanbul with four minarets (but not the largest overall).