In 1543, their eldest son, the crown prince Mehmet, died of smallpox. One example comes in the form of the complex of Şehzade Camii, which was built due to Suleiman and Hurrem’s broken hearts. Mimar Sinan also created mosques dedicated to the children of the royal couple - their daughter Mihrimah and sons Selim, Cihangir, and Mehmet. In his work, Sinan often tried to connect the Byzantine tradition with the style of the Ottoman Empire. In the future, the complex became the burial place of the sultan, his wife, some of their relatives, and some successors as well. It was finished in 1557, and opened in 1558. The mosque was a symbol of the Ottoman Empire ’s power. He varied plain and spherical surfaces, combining semi-cupolas with tympanums and thus giving the impressions of a ''cut diamond'', as if the edifice were cut out of a tube.” He chose, oddly enough, a plan very similar to that of Saint-Sophia in order, it is said, to beat the Greek architects on their own ground.
“With the Suleimaniye, the large and impressive mosque in Istanbul to which Suleiman gave his name, Sinan took another step towards perfection. Construction for this structure began in 1550. It was also the largest job by Mimar Sinan. Sinan’s most impressive project is the mosque of Suleiman, known as Suleimaniye Roxelana ( Hurrem Sultan) and Suleiman the Magnificent by the German baroque painter Anton Hickel, (1780). However, more mosques and other buildings were commissioned by Hurrem and Suleiman. Sinan started to work on it in 1538 and finished it 20 years later. The complex of Haseki Hurrem included a medrese (college), an imaret (public kitchen), a hospital, and a primary school. The first mosque created for Suleiman by Sinan was the Haseki Hurrem Cami, the mosque of Hurrem Sultan. It is possible that one evening Pasha asked Mimar about the plans of buildings which he drew during breaks in the fighting. It is unknown who discovered his talent, but it could have been Ibrahim Pasha, who was interested in his soldiers’ skills, and liked to talk with them about their passions not connected to war. Sinan was almost 50 when he finally became the court architect.
Born as a Christian, Sinan was converted to Islam (via the devsirme system - a forceful conversion) and started to serve as a soldier of the Janissary Corps. In 1512, Mimar was taken to Constantinople (future Istanbul), and he started to study and train to become a Janissary. With time, he became fascinated by the Italian master. According to legend, when Mimar was young, he heard about Leonardo da Vinci visiting the capital city between 15. When Mimar was a little boy he often helped his father, who worked as a builder. This information was confirmed by research in 1935, when Sinan was exhumed and his bones were examined.Ī drawing representing Mimar Sinan. Although it has been debated by some, he was Turkish - not Armenian or Greek, as some researchers suggest. Sinan was born on in Ağırnas, Karaman Eyalet, now Kayseri Province (Caesarea in Cappadocia) in Turkey. Most of his projects were produced during the reign of Suleiman the Magnificent, but he also worked for Selim II and Murad III. Mimar Sinan created at least 374 structures in his lifetime.