Şehzade Mosque
Suleiman the Magnificent mourned his son's death for forty days on this spot — then gave Sinan his first imperial commission.
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Şehzade Mehmed died in 1543 returning from Hungary, primed to inherit the sultanate. Suleiman ordered this memorial complex from Mimar Sinan — Sinan's first major imperial commission — completed between 1544 and 1548. The result became one of the defining works of classical Ottoman architecture.
What to look for
- Forecourt arches in alternating pink and white marble, framing a colonnaded courtyard equal in area to the mosque itself
- Twin minarets with muqarnas carving and interlacing geometric decoration in low relief at the balconies
- The mausoleum of Şehzade Mehmed — the first element of the complex Sinan completed, in 1544
Fatih district, on Istanbul's third hill; the mausoleum of Mehmed stands inside the same walled complex as the mosque.
Şehzade Mosque is one of 39 sights worth the detour in Istanbul, all bundled offline in Voyage GO — download the Istanbul pack and it sits on your map with no signal, filling your travel passport the moment you walk past.
More to see in Istanbul
- Hagia SophiaCompleted in 537, it held the title of world's largest church for over 500 years — then a mosque, a museum, and a mosque again.
- Constantinople (Istanbul)One peninsula that served as the throne of four empires for sixteen centuries straight.
- Blue Mosque (Sultan Ahmed Mosque)Ahmed I placed it directly opposite Hagia Sophia in 1609 and gave it six minarets — a deliberate challenge to the city's greatest building.
- Topkapı PalaceFor nearly four centuries, the sultans who ruled the Ottoman Empire lived and governed from here — until the court finally moved to Dolmabahçe in 1856.
- ByzantiumGreeks from Megara planted a colony here in the 7th century BC — and the name they gave it eventually became the word for an entire empire.
- Rams Park (Ali Sami Yen Sports Complex)Galatasaray's 53,978-seat fortress on the European side of Istanbul — and the second most eco-friendly stadium on the planet.