Şehzade Mosque - Istanbul's Mosques

Şehzade Mosque and Complex is also known as Şehzade Mehmet Mosque.The structure is located in the Şehzadebaşı street, Eminönü district of Istanbul and was built between the years 1543 and 1548 by Mimar Sinan.

Şehzade Mehmet, son of Kanuni Sultan Süleyman (Süleyman the Magnificent), died when he was governor of Saruhan and 22 years old. After his death, Sultan Sülayman ordered to build the mosque and the mosque was built by Architect Sinan who said to the mosque “my apprenticeship work”. However, the mosque was a dream for the Renaissance architects. The mosque has a dome and four half- domes, two minarets in 12 columns with 16 domes. Soup kitchen, madrasa, tabhane, schools and tombs are located around the mosque. Simplicity seen in the Sinan’s works ia also seen in this mosque. The tomb of Şehzade was decorated with colorful tile, Cihangir lies on the right of Şehzade and Sultan Hümaşah lies on the left of Şehzade. A wooden throne was placed on the sarcophagus of Şehzade Mehmet, the throne might be the symbol of Sultan Süleyman’s will.

The courtyard has 6 doors and the mosque has 3 doors, also there is an inscription on the main door of the mosque. The madrasa, soup kitchen, primary school and quest rooms are located in the north and they serve to be a wall of the courtyard. The madrasa was decorated with multi- colored stones and it had 20 cells. Classrooms’ of the madrasa were built to face to the Kıble. Soup kitchen consists of kitchen, dining room, storeroom and cellar.

Şehzade Mosque is the original structure in terms of its decorative properties. The colorfulness and the care on the outside make humans feel the purity of the childhood. You should see the work of Architecture Sinan absolutely while you are visiting the historical buildings in Eminönü.