Sinan

Biography

Mimar Koca Sinan , the “ Great architect Sinan ”, was born the April 15th 1489 in the village from Ağırnas close to the town of Kayseri ( Césarée ), in Anatolia, in a Armenian Christian family

It makes its training near his father as a mason and a carpenter.

A military youth

In its youth, in 1512, under the terms of new decree, come into effect shortly after rise on throne of sultan Sélim Ier Yavuz , which develops the system of the “ devşirme ”, founded by Murat Ier, - a system of recruitment of young Christian boys who have between eight and approximately seventeen years, and which will be converted with the Islam and will owe an absolute allegiance to the sultan whatever the position which they will reach -, Sinan , although it is a little older, are brought to Istanbul and are enlisted of force in the army. It was received in the “Body of the conscripts”, which trains the soldiers for the army. It is thought that it is there that it was initiated with the art and the technique of construction of the frames.

After one period of rigorous formation, it passes from the cavalry to the body of the technicians, becomes engineer in military engineering, takes part in the many campaigns of Sélim Ier and Soliman I {{er}} Splendid (1494-1566) the, and starts to build bridges and fortifications.

It took part in the holy war and the victory of Çaldiran (1514) over the dynasty Chiite of the Perses séfévides, arrived at the capacity in 1501, which allowed the annexation of the east of Anatolia (Arménie, area of Diyarbakir), then with the forwarding of Egypt between the years 1515 - 1517, during which the Turks crush the Mamelouk S with the battle of Merdj Dabiq close to Alep, in Syria. Of return to Istanbul, it enters prestigious “the Body of the Janissaire S” (in Turkish “ yeniçeri ”, which means “new soldier”).

At the time of Soliman, after having taken part in the forwarding of Belgrade in 1521, and with that of Rhodos in 1526, it obtains the rank of officer. After the battles of Mohács in 1526, it becomes the chief of the technicians. It will take part in the forwarding of Vienna in 1529 more, with that of Germany between the years 1529 - 1532 and with those of Iraq, Baghdad and Tabriz between the years 1532 - 1535.

Discovered architecture

It is thus only with the passing of years, and by forging its experiment on the ground, that Sinan became architect. Its first buildings are soldiers (bridges and fortifications), but then he directs the construction of many mosques and various public edifices.

Among the first civil works that it built, one will quote in 1528 - 1529, the Pont Coban Mustafa Pasha, with Svilengrad, in Bulgaria, or the mosque of Hüsrev Pasha ( Hüsrev Paşa Camii ) of Alep, in Syria, 1536 - 1537.

For its mosques, Sinan is often inspired by the architecture of the Cathédrale Saint Sophie, to create buildings in which the central dome would seem light and whose interior spaces would be bathed of light. It used systems making it possible to support the buildings outside in order to keep the open interior. It often built its mosques like part of a complex including/understanding of the schools, of the baths, a house of reception and a hospital.

In 1539, after the death of the architect Acem Ali, the architect of the mosque Yavuz Selim ( Yavuz Selim Camii ) of Istanbul - the mosque that Soliman made build, on the fifth hill, the ruins of the Byzantine palate Bonos, in the honor of his/her father Sélim Ier in 1520 - 1522 -, Mimar Koca Sinan is named “Mimarbasi”, chief of the imperial architects, a station which it will preserve under three sultans: Soliman the Magnificent, Selim II and Murad III. During this nomination, it was not already very any more young (50 years), but there will remain to him still about fifty years of creative adventures, which will lead Turkish architecture towards new tops.

The first mosque built after its nomination - the mosque Haseki Sultán ( Haseki Sultán Camii ), built for the favorite one of Soliman, the sultana Roxelane - preserves a very traditional organization of space, not revealing any particular innovation. On the other hand, the following project, the mosque Mihrimah ( Mihrimah Camii ) (1540 - 1548) in Usküdar, on which it started to work immediately after Haseki, a first step represents ahead, since inter alia innovations, it built three half-domes surrounding the principal dome.

The mosque Şehzade Mehmet (Istanbul)

Before to have even completed this construction, Sinan attacked the project of the mosque Şehzade Mehmet ( Şehzade Mehmet Camii ) (1543 - 1548), or mosque of the Prince Mehmet , built between 1544 and 1548, to commemorate the memory of the preferred son of Soliman, the crown prince Mehmet, victim of the jealousy of Roxelane, the wife of the sultan.

This mosque was the true first architectural order of Sinan , its first important construction and its first major work. It was built in order to give on the Marmara Sea and on the Corne of Gold. Mimar Sinan made proof there, in the design, of an audacity which contributed largely to the evolution of Othoman architecture, even if, thereafter, it somewhat made back machine. As the majority of the other mosques which it built thereafter, Şehzade, which it regarded itself as a work of its period of training, are built on a square plan and are overcome by a central dome carried by four columns and supported by four half domes and others smaller subsidiary cupolas. The mosque is in the center of a complex - the first built by Sinan - which included/understood moreover a religious school, a printing works, a stable, a school, an asylum and the tomb of Şehzade.

By seeing this architectural structure, one can think that it had to visit, lasting the Iraqi countryside, the mosque of Fatih Pasha ( Fatih Paşa Camii ) with Diyarbakir (South-eastern of Turkey), built between 1518 and 1522 for Biyikli Mehmet Pasha, conquering it (fatih) city in 1515, which also has a large dome resting on heavy pillars and supported by four half-domes. That probably had to influence the plans of Şehzade, even if the general aspect of this one undoubtedly carries the mark of Sinan .

One is unaware of the reasons for which Sinan returned thereafter in plans closer to those of Hagia Sophia after those very daring than it had developed for Şehzade.

The cemetery in the park around the mosque gathers a series of the splendid imperial mausoleums, perhaps most beautiful which are downtown. Two are particularly to retain: that of prince Mehmet and that of the son-in-law of Soliman, Rüstem Pasha. Unfortunately, the cemetery is not opened with the public. A crowned tree or tree of fruitfulness is planted in the North-West, right before the entry of the medrese (canteen). The women come to request Friday around there.

The buildings in the north of the mosque are supported against the Aqueduc of Valens, which was built at the 4th century to supply with water the various cisterns of Constantinople.

The mosque Süleymaniye (Istanbul)

For Soliman, Sinan built in particular, between 1550 and 1557, the mosque Süleymaniye ( Süleymaniye Camii ) of Istanbul, held by the poets Turkish like the sublime expression of “splendor and the joy”. This mosque “selatin” (plural of “sultan”) - one thus calls the mosques with several minarets only built by the sultans or their families - is incontestably one of its greater successes and is regarded as most beautiful of the imperial mosques of Istanbul. Each detail contributes to make it exceptional: its harmonious proportions - interior dimensions of the mosque 70 m length are on 61 m broad -; the light which penetrates by the 138 windows; the dome cascades about it - 27,5 m in diameter and 47,75 m height since the ground to the keystone -, bored of 32 windows, supported on the sides by half-cupolas. The mosque is equipped with a square with gantries crowned of 28 domes supported by 24 columns ancient monoliths (2 out of porphyry, 10 out of white marble and 12 out of granite). In the center of the court a şadırvan is (fountain of ablutions).

Silhouette of Süleymaniye with its four minarets frayed ringed of ten balconies (indicating that Soliman was the fourth Othoman sultan of Istanbul and the tenth of the Othoman Dynastie), dominates the horizon of Western bank of the Corne of Gold. It is one of the most significant constructions of architecture Turkish-Othoman. Sinan reiterated the carrier system which it had already used in the construction of the mosque Bayezid in Istanbul. Here, it supported the dome, by pressing it on four pillars, by half-domes in direction of the Mihrab of entry (the mihrab is a niche which indicates the direction of Mecque). The domes and the half-domes harmoniously transmit their weights to the others.

Süleymaniye and its complex represent a wide urban organization in a vast zone including/understanding a Koranic school ( will darülkurra ), a hospital, a public baths ( hammam ), an old people's home, six colleges of theology, soup kitchens, stores, and the mausoleums ( türbe ) of the Soliman sultan and his wife Roxelane ( the sultana Hürrem ). All this harmonious unit constitutes the most significant example of the designs of town planning of the Turks, which allot a social nature to religious constructions. This building is located on one of the hills of Istanbul giving on Haliç (the Corne of gold ). The construction of the mosque of Süleymaniye, to which all the artists of the time (such as for example, Ahmet Karahisar and its pupil Hassan Çelebi for penmanships) contributed, was carried out by taking account as well of the total aspect as details.

It reinterpreted, in this construction, the style of the cathedral Holy-Sophie. Its realization lasted seven years, which shows the genius of Sinan in the field of the organization as much as in that of architecture. The book of accounts of this construction, which clarifies the time, arrived to us and gives invaluable indications on the work methods of the architect.

The mosque of Rüstem Pasha (Istanbul)

Of 1560 with 1564, it built for the Top dog Rüstem Pasha, husband of the preferred girl of Soliman the Magnificent, Mihrimah, the mosque of Rüstem Pasha ( Rüstem Paşa Camii ) with Istanbul, in the district of Eminönü, with the point of the peninsula of the Constantinople old man. It small and is superbly proportioned. It is still an exceptional work, small jewel of the Othoman art, which is above an arcade of stores and overhangs the streets bordered of Caravansérail S, whose construction sometimes goes up at the time Byzantine. Its traditional plan has a rectangular form, a central dome pressed on four semi-cupolas and five smaller domes. Superb squares of Iznik (Nicée) recover the interior of the mosque.

A recent restoration development it, but the earthquake of 1999 damaged the small domes.

The mosque of Atik Validates (Üsküdar)

Sinan also conceived a complex ( Külliyesi ) around a mosque for Nurbanu Valide Sultán, the Venetian wife of Selim II and mother of Murad III (1574 - 1595). The mosque of Atik Validates ( Atik Valide Camii ) or mosque of the sultana-mother, was built between 1570 and 1579, in the district of Üsküdar, in the Asian part of Istanbul. It is one of more great successes stambouliotes of the architect, after the complex of Soliman the Magnificent ( Süleymaniye külliyesi ). The mosque is located at the center of this complex including/understanding a convent of Derviche S, a university, an elementary school, a seminar, a Koranic school ( will darülkurra ), of the soup kitchens ( imaret ), a hospital, a caravanserai (transformed today into prison), a library and a hammam. That once again underlines the social role of the mosque which, for the Othomans, is not used only for the prayer, but is also a place of life, trade and exchanges. The mosque, which occupies the central part of the complex, took the aspect that we know to him today in three stages.

The court of the mosque, located around the sides north, is and western, is particularly well proportioned with its gantries and its columns out of marble. It has four doors which give access, in the center, with the fountain planned for ablutions ( şadırvan ), surrounded, nowadays, of plane trees and cypress centenaries. The most significant decorations are inside the sanctuary. They especially consist of paintings of floral reasons, on covered wall panels of decorated earthenware squares, in particular close to the pulpit ( minber ). The Mihrab is covered with ceramics of Iznik (Nicée). The door out of wooden and the shutters of the room of prayer are decorated with ivory inlays carved and mother-of-pearl.

The mosque Selimiye (Edirne)

The cathedral Holy-Sophie, built by the “infidels” remained the obsession of the Moslem architects. But, neither Soliman, nor Istanbul, will see the most beautiful masterpiece of Othoman architecture, the mosque Selimiye ( Selimiye Camii ) of Edirne (Turkey-red cotton), built by Sinan with more than 80 years, between 1569 and 1574, for the sultan Selim II. For the first time, dimensions of Holy-Sophie were exceeded.

In this construction, that Sinan itself regarded as the work of its period of Master, it implemented the principle of the dome on octagonal level, a problem which it had already tried to solve in the mosque of Rüstem Pasha in Istanbul. Thus, the carrying pillars are thinned, the elements which transmit the masses decrease, and the dome becomes the most important element which defines the space of construction. Sinan carried out here the largest dome - of a diameter of more than 31 meters - of all the mosques which it built. It is supported by eight pillars, and gives the impression, thanks to the space which it recovers, that the interior of the mosque is vaster than it is not actually, by facilitating the perception of space. The cupola also determines the vision of the principal lines of the exterior facade of the mosque. Other constructions of the complex are in background compared to the mosque. It also holds the attention, as of the first sight, by its four minarets, having each one three serefe of equal size. These minarets, with the elegant aspect by far, were installed on the four sides of the square platform, on which the mosque rises, around the cupola. With Selimiye Sinan watch all its genius, which had not only the capacity to see, but also the talent to interpret the heritage received from Anatolia, single in the world. This mosque, even if it is not its ultimate work, is considered, rightly, as a chief of work which carries out the synthesis of architecture Turkish-Othoman of the traditional time. It fixes, to some extent the rules of the latter, by its structure, the treatment of space, its proportions and its ornaments. Photographs of Selimiye

The mosque of Sokullu Mehmet Pasha (Istanbul)

It is between 1572 and 1577 that the architect Sinan built, in the district of Galata, on the steep slope of a rough ground located close to the blue Mosquée ( Sultanahmet Camii ), the mosque of Sokullu Mehmet Pasha ( Sokullu Mehmet Pasha Camii ) on behalf of the Top dog Sokullu Mehmet Pasha. She is regarded as one of the more good examples of the Turkish architecture of the 16th century and a masterpiece of Sinan.

She was built on the site of a Byzantine church in ruins, Haghia Anastasia, whose certain elements were recovered. She is famous for her interior decoration, with beautiful earthenware with dominant blue, which cover the pillars around the vault, contours of the windows and the Mihrab (niche indicating the direction of Mecque), but do not choke the architectural beauty of the building. Inside, the visitor can only be seized of admiration in front of blue the, green ones, crimsons and reds of the elegant drawings of the squares in Faïence of Iznik.

The central cupola of the mosque is supported by half-cupolas, according to the traditional diagram of the mosques of Sinan, whose Holy-Sophie had been the model of inspiration.

The complex is composed, in addition to the mosque, of a school, a convent of dervishes (to the back, detached a little) and of a fountain to ablutions. The court, whose access is done by a small tunnel, is surrounded by gantries with 30 domes. The majority of the columns supporting the domes are Byzantine. In the center, the marble fountain is sumptuous. The interior of the mosque is decorated with earthenware with Iznik (Nicée) and of paintings representing of the eyelet S and the Chrysanthème remarkable S. the polychrome stained glasses gives an environment coloured inside. The mihrab is absolutely exceptional with its many squares of Iznik.

Kırkçeşme (Istanbul)

Sinan was not satisfied to build mosques. In 1553, it was charged to solve the problem of water in Istanbul. It examined the aqueducts built at the time Roman, those of the Byzantines like those built after the conquest and put at research new sources of water. The building work of the new installations was started in 1554 and was finished in 1560. For that, it carried out a network of forty fountains, which one called “Kırkçeşme”, a length of more than 50 km, for the food of which it had to build river dams, tunnels, channels and two aqueducts: aqueducts of Uzunkemer and Egrikemer, close to Istanbul. This project for the control of water was so important with the eyes of Soliman that there is affected a budget of 43 million in silver money, almost equivalent to what had been spent (53 million) for the complex of Süleymaniye.

Mimar Sinan granted as much importance to its bridges than with its other work. It was proud bridge of “Büyükçekmece”, a 635,5 meters length, which is as perfect as solid. It is also him which, inter alia, threw on the Cekmeçe, the twenty-eight arches of the bridge of the imperial way connecting Edirne to Istanbul, or built between 1577 and 1578 the Pont of Višegrad on the Drina, in Bosnia-Herzégovine.

An active old age

In 1580, it builds the mosque Chemchi Pasha ( Chemchi Paşa Camii ) of Usküdar, on Asian bank of the the Bosphorus.

In 1584, the sultana Nur-u Banu, wife of the sultan Selim II and mother of the Sultan Murad III makes build in Istanbul, according to a plan conceived by Mimar Sinan , the Hammam de Çemberlitas, considered as one of the most important works of L `Othoman architecture of the 16th century.

In 1586, at the sizeable age of 97 years, it undertakes the construction of its two last mosques: the mosque Mesih Mehmet Pasha ( Mesih Mehmet Paşa Camii ) and the mosque Molla Tchelebi ( Molla Tchelebi Camii ) of Findikli, which it will not be able to see completed.

On the whole, during its long career, Sinan and its team realized more than 350 constructions:

84 large Mosque S
52 “mescit” (small mosques without Minaret or rooms of prayer),
57 “madrasas” (college of theology)
7 “will darülkurra” (Koranic schools),
22 Mausolée S or turbés,
17 “imaret” (old people's homes or houses of reception for disinherited),
20 Caravansérail S
35 Palais and Manoir S
6 stores
48 Hammam S (public baths and thermal installations),
3 hospitals
7 Aqueduct S
8 Bridge S

In spite of the exceptional length of its career, it is difficult to claim that all these constructions were programmed and carried out entirely by Sinan itself. Part of those, whose majority are in Istanbul, were carried out by its pupils or the organization of the architects who was bound to him, and it was satisfied to supervise the design of the works and work. Moreover, in this list, the restorations are also listed in which it took part.

Sinan lived for the period which constituted the golden age of the Othoman State. It completed work as a first architect under the reign of three sovereigns, respectively: Soliman I {{er}} Splendid the, Selim II and Murad III. Its role was considerable in the design and the implementation of many architectural masterpieces symbolizing the power of the Empire. The study of its life reveals the history of a true creator, never satisfied with his achievements, constantly in the search of new ideas and unceasingly trying to develop innovating devices. Its influence continued to be felt a long time after its death, and each time recognized its importance.

Mimar Sinan died almost centenary, the July 17th 1588 in Istanbul. It was buried in an angle in the north of the Süleymaniye mosque, near the mausoleums of Soliman and his wife the Sultana Hürrem, more known under the name of Roxelane.

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