Commissioned by one of the greatest rulers of the Ottoman Empire, Suleiman the Magnificent, it was built as a memorial to his son Şehzade Mehmed who died in 1543. It is known as the “Prince’s Mosque” in English, and is a remarkable example of Ottoman architecture.

The Şehzade Complex (külliye) surrounding the mosque is a fascinating piece of Ottoman history, reflecting the grandeur and sophistication of the era. For anyone interested in Muslim history, the Şehzade Mosque and Complex offer a glimpse into the past and a deeper understanding of Islamic culture.

Architecture

The mosque is entered through a marble-paved colonnaded forecourt with an area equal to that of the mosque itself. The courtyard is bordered by a portico with five domed bays on each side, with arches in alternating pink and white marble.

At the center is an ablution fountain (şadırvan), which was a later donation from Sultan Murat IV. The twin minarets have two galleries and elaborate geometric sculpture in low bas-relief and occasional terracotta inlays. It is the only non-sultanic mosque designed by Sinan with a pair of minarets with two galleries.

The mosque itself has a square plan, covered by a central dome, flanked by four half-domes. The dome is supported by four piers, and has a diameter of 19 metres  and a height of 37 metres. It was in this building that Sinan first adopted the technique of placing colonnaded galleries along the entire length of the north and south facades in order to conceal the buttresses.

The interior of the Şehzade Mosque has a symmetrical plan, with the area under the central dome expanded by use of four semi-domes, one on each side, in the shape of a four leaf clover.

This technique was not entirely successful, as it isolated the four huge piers needed to support the central dome, and was never again repeated by Sinan. The interior of the mosque has a very simple design, without galleries.