The mosque was built by order of Sul­tan Suleiman the Mag­nif­i­cent by the archi­tect Sinan in 1550–1557. It accom­mo­dates more than 5,000 believ­ers. The dome is 53 meters high, sup­port­ed by four pow­er­ful columns with mar­ble trim. There are 32 win­dows around the dome, and anoth­er 136 along the perime­ter of the facade. The four minarets sym­bol­ize the num­ber of great Turk­ish rulers who lived in Istan­bul: Mehmed the Con­queror, Bayezid II, Selim Yavuz and Suleiman the Mag­nif­i­cent. In front of the mosque there is a large court­yard, the area of ​​which is almost equal to the area of ​​Suley­maniye itself. In the cen­ter there is a foun­tain with mar­ble por­ti­coes, and the entire com­plex is sur­round­ed by a pic­turesque gar­den. In the court­yard of the mosque there is a ceme­tery, here in two neigh­bor­ing mau­soleums rest Suleiman him­self and his beloved wife Hur­rem (Roksolana) with their daugh­ter Mihrimah.