the greatest architect of all time

3
lostislamichistory.com http://lostislamichistory.com/the-greatest-architect-of-all-time/ Th e Hagia Soph ia was the inspirat ion f or Ott oman mosque s Th e Greatest Architect of Al l Time Islamic history is filled with genius architects. Some of the greatest monuments on earth are the product of Muslims who wanted to build beautiful structures that would show the greatness of Islam throughout time. The Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem, the Taj Mahal in Agra, India, the Alhambra in Granada, Spain, and the Blue Mosque in Istanbul, Turkey are all examples of this cherished and beautiful architectural tradition.  Arguably th e gre atest an d most influentia l architect o f all time, however, w as the Ott oman architectu ral master, Mimar Sinan, who lived from 1489 to 1588. He lived during the zenith of the Ottoman Empire, during the reigns of sulta ns Selim I, Suleyman, Selim II, and Murad II I. During th is time, the iconic skyline o f Istanbul was changed forever, w ith the beautiful additions of gr eat sultans via Mim ar Sinan. Early Life Mimar was the son of a Greek or Armenian convert to Islam, Abd al-Mannan. He joined the elite corps of the Ottoman army, the Janissaries as a young man, like his father did before him. In the Janissaries, Sinan showed early talent as an engineer. He rose up through the ranks, becoming an officer in the army who participated in numerous military campaigns under sultans Selim and Suleyman. As the Ottoman armies marched to new extents in Europe, Africa, and Persia, Sinan went with them, organizing engineering corps for the military, as well as building mosques and other civil buildings in newly Ottoman cities. In 1538, his talents could no longer be ignored and he w as given a position as the head architect of the sultan’s governm ent in Istanbul. Early Works The timeless gem of Istanbul’s architecture has always been the Hagia Sophia. It was built as a Christian church in 537 by the Byzantines and was converted to a mosque to serve the new Muslim population after Mehmed II’s conquest of the city in 1453. Since then, Ottoman architects had used the Hagia Sophia’s giant dome as a template for how to design Muslim mosques. Ottoman mosques were thus based on a premis e of h aving one giant central do me over the main prayer hall that was held up by numerous semi- domes on its sides. This greatly increasing the mosque’s size and capacity. Despite the numerous attempts through the decades to top the Hagi a Sophia in size and beauty, no architect was able to accomplish such a feat. Mimar Sinan made it his goal to build a monument to Islam that was more magnificent than the epic Hagia Sophia. Sinan certainly had a lot of practice in designing buildings. As he began his career, he built smaller mosques across the empire. He built the Khusruwiyah Mosque in Aleppo, Syria in 1547, which remains today as a landmark in that city. He also renovated the mosque of Imam Abu Hanifa in Baghdad, and the mosque of Jalal

Upload: dhantel-rhesa-prawedha

Post on 14-Apr-2018

224 views

Category:

Documents


0 download

TRANSCRIPT

Page 1: The Greatest Architect of All Time

7/27/2019 The Greatest Architect of All Time

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/the-greatest-architect-of-all-time 1/3

lostislamichistory.com http://lostislamichistory.com/the-greatest-architect-of-all-time

The Hagia Sophia was the inspiration for Ottoman mosques

The Greatest Architect of All Time

Islamic history is filled with genius architects. Some of the greatest monuments on earth are the product of 

Muslims who wanted to build beautiful structures that would show the greatness of Islam throughout time. The

Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem, the Taj Mahal in Agra, India, the Alhambra in Granada, Spain, and the BlueMosque in Istanbul, Turkey are all examples of this cherished and beautiful architectural tradition.

 Arguably the greatest and most influential architect of all time, however, was the Ottoman architectural maste

Mimar Sinan, who lived from 1489 to 1588. He lived during the zenith of the Ottoman Empire, during the reign

of sultans Selim I, Suleyman, Selim II, and Murad III. During this time, the iconic skyline of Istanbul was

changed forever, with the beautiful additions of great sultans via Mimar Sinan.

Early Life

Mimar was the son of a Greek or Armenian convert to Islam, Abd al-Mannan. He joined the elite corps of the

Ottoman army, the Janissaries as a young man, like his father did before him. In the Janissaries, Sinan

showed early talent as an engineer. He rose up through the ranks, becoming an officer in the army who

participated in numerous military campaigns under sultans Selim and Suleyman. As the Ottoman armies

marched to new extents in Europe, Africa, and Persia, Sinan went with them, organizing engineering corps fo

the military, as well as building mosques and other civil buildings in newly Ottoman cities. In 1538, his talents

could no longer be ignored and he was given a position as the head architect of the sultan’s government in

Istanbul.

Early Works

The timeless gem of Istanbul’s architecture has alwaysbeen the Hagia Sophia. It was built as a Christian

church in 537 by the Byzantines and was converted to

a mosque to serve the new Muslim population after 

Mehmed II’s conquest of the city in 1453. Since then,

Ottoman architects had used the Hagia Sophia’s giant

dome as a template for how to design Muslim

mosques. Ottoman mosques were thus based on a

premise of having one giant central dome over the

main prayer hall that was held up by numerous semi-

domes on its sides. This greatly increasing themosque’s size and capacity. Despite the numerous

attempts through the decades to top the Hagia Sophia

in size and beauty, no architect was able to accomplish

such a feat. Mimar Sinan made it his goal to build a

monument to Islam that was more magnificent than the epic Hagia Sophia.

Sinan certainly had a lot of practice in designing buildings. As he began his career, he built smaller mosques

across the empire. He built the Khusruwiyah Mosque in Aleppo, Syria in 1547, which remains today as a

landmark in that city. He also renovated the mosque of Imam Abu Hanifa in Baghdad, and the mosque of Jala

Page 2: The Greatest Architect of All Time

7/27/2019 The Greatest Architect of All Time

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/the-greatest-architect-of-all-time 2/3

The interior of the Suleymaniy e Mosque in Istanbul

al-Din al-Rumi in Konya. These projects all gave Sinan a good background in architecture and engineering,

and they also provided him with the skills he would need once he started building larger monuments to the

glory of Islam.

Şehzade and Suleymaniye Mosques

In 1543, one of Sultan Suleyman’s sons, Prince Mehmed, died of smallpox at the age of 21. Suleyman insiste

on building a large mosque in his honor that would serve the local community in Istanbul. This was the first

opportunity Sinan had to build a large, monumental mosque. Over the next four years, Sinan worked on whatwould be called the Şehzade Jami’ (the Prince’s Mosque) in central Istanbul. When it was completed, it becam

a major landmark of the city as well as one of its main mosques. Besides just a mosque, it also included a

complex (kulliye) that had a school, soup kitchen for the poor, a place to sleep for travelers, and a tomb for 

Prince Mehmed. Sultan Suleyman was very pleased with it, but Sinan did not consider the work a masterpiec

He insisted that he could do better.

The second major mosque that Sinan was in charge of was one for 

Sultan Suleyman himself. Suleyman wanted another giant mosque in

Istanbul, this one named after him so he can accumulate the good

deeds of Muslims who pray in it long after he dies. He wanted it to bea central part of Istanbul’s skyline, showing the supremacy and glory

of Islam. They chose a site on top of a hill near the Golden Horn. It

could be spotted from miles around at this location. The mosque

took seven years to construct. Legend has it that after the

foundation was laid and before the building began to r ise, Sinan

disappeared for five years. Furious, Suleyman demanded to know

what happened to his favorite architect. After five years, Sinan

returned to Istanbul and explained that the building would be so

massive that the foundation needed to settle into the soil for five

years before above ground building could commence.

When the mosque was completed in 1557, it was considered a true

masterpiece. No other mosque in Istanbul had the interior space, the

height, or the intricate detail of the Suleymaniye Mosque. With its

four thin and tall minarets and its dome of over 50 meters, it was

truly a new height in architecture and engineering. A kulliye

surrounded the mosque that included a hospital, public baths, a library (still in use today), a soup kitchen,

numerous schools teaching Quran, a school for hadith, and a primary school for children. Also part of the

complex is a cemetery where Sultan Suleyman is buried.

Inside, arches with alternating red and white colors were reminiscent of the architecture of Muslim Spain, whic

at this point was just a memory. A giant chandelier hung in the center of the mosque, just above the heads

of worshipers. In an example of environmentalism and conservation, Sinan installed special windows on the

mosque. They had a screen on them that would trap the soot escaping from the candles that lit the mosque.

The soot was thus prevented from fouling the air outside and would even be converted into ink to be used by

calligraphers. The interior is free from the intricate designs of some other Istanbul mosques, and is beautiful

for its simplicity while still being elegant. The courtyard of the mosque has Iznik tiles that wrap around it,

displaying Ayat al-Kursi, one of the verses of the Quran.

Incredibly, despite the beauty and magnificence of this mosque, Sinan still believed he could do better.

Page 3: The Greatest Architect of All Time

7/27/2019 The Greatest Architect of All Time

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/the-greatest-architect-of-all-time 3/3

The Selimiye Mosque in Edirne, Mimar Sinan’s masterpiece

Masterpiece

When Suleyman died in 1566, his son and successor, Selim II, also wanted a mosque built in his name. The

location would not be Istanbul, but instead the city of Edirne, about 200 kilometers away. Despite being in his

70s when construction began, Sinan was determined to finally top the Hagia Sophia. When the mosque was

completed in 1574, he finally achieved his goal.

 According to his autobiography, Sinan considers the

Selimiye Mosque to be his masterpiece. It had the tallestminarets in the world at that point, each topping 80

meters. The dome was built on an octagonal base, thus

allowing it to reach new heights that finally topped the

Hagia Sophia’s dome. While some aspects of the

Selimiye are similar to the Suleymaniye, it is taller Sinan’s

earlier work with a taller dome that seems to rise on its

own without any support from lower pillars or semi-

domes. It remains today as the main landmark of Edirne,

Turkey, and a masterpiece of architectural achievement

that has never been matched.

Mimar Sinan died in 1588 at 98 years of age. He was

buried in the cemetery of the Suleymaniye Mosque, near 

his greatest patron, Sultan Suleyman. During his life, he

built some of the greatest monuments the Ottoman

Empire has even seen. The impact he had on the Muslim

world was not just limited to the mammoth mosques he

built. He built over 90 large mosques throughout the

empire, 50 smaller mosques, 57 colleges, 8 bridges, and numerous other public buildings throughout the

Ottoman realm. His apprentices would go on to build other major landmarks throughout the world, includingthe Sultanahmet Mosque (Blue Mosque) in Istanbul and the Taj Mahal in Agra, India. He is considered the

greatest Muslim architect of all time, and his works are some of the greatest symbols of Islam today, over 400

years after his death.

Bibliography:

Hodgson, M. G. S. The Venture of Islam, Conscience and History in a World Civilization. 3. Chicago, IL:

University of Chicago Press, 1974.

Khan, Muhammad. The Muslim 100. Leicestershire, United Kingdom: Kube Publishing Ltd, 2008. Print.