One-year events for Ottoman architect Great Sinan start in Turkey

PanARMENIAN.Net - One-year events for Ottoman architect Great Sinan get start in Turkey.



The cultural activities to promote the most well known Turkish Architect Great Sinan got start in Turkey's presidential palace on Tuesday. The cultural activities are organized by Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism under the auspices of Turkish President. The activities, commemorating Architecture Sinan, will continue in 2009-2010 all around world: in London, Jerusalem, Paris and Cairo.



Sinan was born in 1489 in Anatolia, in the Armenian family. In 1512, he was conscripted into Ottoman service via the Devshirme system. Since he was over twenty-one years old, he was not admitted to the Enderun College in the Topkapı Palace but was sent instead to an auxiliary school. Some records claim that he might have served the Grand Vizier İbrahim Pasha as a novice of the Ibrahim Pasha School.



During his life which lasted almost 100 years, Sinan shaped the Ottoman Empire architecture in 16th century in so many directions that he was named 'Great Sinan', 'Big Sinan' by the public while he was still living. With the courtly works which he built in the era that he lived, he drove the actual panoramic view of Ottoman Turkish Istanbul. Sinan, himself is the owner of most of the works that belong to Ottoman Empire Classical era.



Today world knows that Great Sinan has built over 365 masterpieces during his lifetime. These are: 84 mosque , 52 masjid, 57 madrasah, 7 darulkura, 22 mausoleum, 17 lodging house, 3 infirmary, 5 water canals, 8 bridge, 20 carvansarai, 36 palace, 8 cellar and 48 Turkish bath.



In this era, the imperial borders had extended from Bagdad to Caucasus, from Crimean, Poland and Vienna to the whole Balkans and Serbia, southerly from Arabia peninsula to Sudanese in Africa and to the Atlantic Ocean.



Sinan had important contributions to mosque design and construction. The domes and half-domes have been the indispensable coat elements in these constitutions. He used square,hexagonal and octagonal plan schemes and in every building he tried a new methodology of design or a structural component. Facade design has developed a lot in Sinan era.



His masterpiece is the Selimiye Mosque in Edirne, although his most famous work is the Suleiman Mosque in Istanbul.