Ottoman architects drew inspiration from the both Eastern and Western traditions. They were inspired by the domed tent structures of their nomadic past, but also by Persian and Arab traditions, and later by the Italian baroque and French rococo styles. Not least of all inspiration, however, was the greatly admired Byzantine Hagia Sofia, whose elegant construction and majestic dome offered both charm and challenge to Ottoman engineers.

During the same period Italian architects were experimenting with the domed structure, Ottoman architects were doing the same. And while Roman engineering provided the source of inspiration for both societies, the legacy was interpreted by the Ottomans and the Italians in entirely separate ways. Early on, the beauty of the Ottoman mosque was its tiered construction and the harmonious interplay between a multitude of small domes and a much larger dome which dominated and provided the focal point of the roofline. Later, a new interest in symmetry spurred the development of a more centralized dome.

One of the most extraordinary masterpieces of classical Ottoman engineering is the Seliyme mosque at Edirne. From its inception, the structure placed the world-renowned skill of Ottoman architect, Sinan, on full display. The great, wide, centrally resting dome is under-girded by an octagonal base structure, while slender conical capped minarets tower on four sides. Sinan designed the mosque with gracefully arcading and expansive windows that distract the eye by flooding the interior with light. The effect was a brilliant disguising of the colossal masonry. Instead of appearing heavy, the building projects an amazing sense of weightlessness.

The Seliyme mosque formed a part of an institutional complex the Ottomans called the kulliye. With just two schools at its posterior flanks, however, the Seliyme was somewhat unusual in its layout. As a kulliye, an Ottoman mosque would often be attached to one or more schools, a soup kitchen, a hospital, a bathhouse, and an inner courtyard. Together these structures functioned as a cultural center and played a vital role in the welfare and community-life of the city.

Affectionately referred to as the “Crown on the Hill,” one of the most celebrated of kulliyes is the Suleymaniye, built to such proportions as to rival and surpass the Haya Sofia. Commissioned by Suleyman the Magnificent, the Suleymaniye dominates the Istanbul skyline as if watching out over the whole of the Golden Horn. It is the pre-eminent mosque kulliye, encompassing all of the decidedly Ottoman civic institutions, and further consisting of four schools, a hospital and a dispensary, a library, a public bath, and the tomb of Suleyman, himself.