Dome

View looking up within the arcade of the sahn (courtyard); This large mosque and its surrounding complex were commissioned by Suleyman (reigned 1520-1566) and planned and constructed between 1550 and 1557 by the court architect Sinan. Widely recognized as one of the premier monuments of Ottoman architecture, it was built above the Golden Horn on a hilltop site, part of which had been occupied by the Eski Saray ('Old Palace'). The Suleymaniye is remarkable for its great size (the diameter of the dome is 26.2 m; the height of its crown is 53 m), its prodigious strength (the soffits of the four major arches are more than 4 m deep) and its ingenious system of geometric proportions. Some elements of the building, such as the great columns of the interior, are Classical or Byzantine spolia; the architectural inscriptions were designed by the great calligrapher Ahmad Karahisari; and the tile decorations represent the first major use in an Ottoman building project of polychrome underglaze-painted tiles from Iznik. Source: Grove Art Online; http://www.groveart.com/ (accessed 1/22/2008)