Vol. 12 No. 2 (2015): Cultural Transitions in Ottoman Architecture
Articles

The Süleymaniye Complex as the centre of the world

Johan Mårtelius
Swedish Research Institute in Istanbul - SRII, Istanbul, Turkey

Published 2015-07-01

Keywords

  • Süleymaniye Complex,
  • Ottoman architecture,
  • Architect Sinan,
  • Cultural connections

How to Cite

Mårtelius, J. (2015). The Süleymaniye Complex as the centre of the world. A|Z ITU JOURNAL OF THE FACULTY OF ARCHITECTURE, 12(2), 49 - 57. Retrieved from https://www.az.itu.edu.tr/index.php/jfa/article/view/417

Abstract

The awareness of a multiplicity of cultural connections is shown in several of Sinan’s works, including features belonging to Turkish, Arabic, Persian, Byzantine as well as European/Western architecture. Nowhere is this more richly exposed than in the Süleymaniye complex. This essay interprets the architectural relationships creatively handled in various components of the Süleymaniye, reaching from the obvious typological connections with the Hagia Sophia to links such as with Mughal Indian and Italian architecture. These more or less explicit intercultural references belong to individual elements as well as to features of structure and composition. By featuring a selection of such connections, this interpretation explores the position of Sinan within a cultural sphere that may be termed Renaissance. If this concept is expanded from its conventional application as a basically Italian movement towards regarding similar interests in cultural and political heritage as well as intercultural reception going on in other parts of the world, it may be argued that the Ottoman claims represented a position at its forefront. In architecture these tendencies became nowhere more explicitly revealed than in the works by Sinan, and among them most richly in the Süleymaniye. The analysis reveals no unexplored primary sources related to the Süleymaniye, but adds a number of contextual references to the rich body of existing studies. Through this perspective Sinan and the Ottoman court culture that he represented are connected, at least by implication, to rivalling cultural centres of power such as Rome and Venice, but also for instance Isfahan and Delhi.