Istanbul domes at the same scale

Istanbul's domes across a millennium and a half, on one metric scale drawn like a section: left to right in order of completion, the vertical scale gives the real height from floor to the crown of the dome, and the figure above each dome is its diameter. The era sits under each dome; Sinan's own works (apprentice · çıraklık, journeyman · kalfalık) are picked out in colour.

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 31.24 Hagia Sophia 537 24.50 Yavuz Selim 1529 18.42 Şehzade 1548 26.50 Süleymaniye 1557 20 Mihrimah, Edirnekapı 1566 23.50 Sultan Ahmed 1617 17.50 Yeni Cami 1665 25.40 Nuruosmaniye 1755 34 Çamlıca 2019
Mosques of Istanbul diameter height Eras
Hagia Sophia 537 31.24 m 55.6 m Byzantine benchmark
Yavuz Selim Mosque 1529 24.50 m 32.5 m Early Ottoman
Şehzade Mosque 1548 18.42 m 37 m Apprentice · çıraklık
Süleymaniye Mosque 1557 26.50 m 53 m Journeyman · kalfalık
Mihrimah Sultan Mosque, Edirnekapı 1566 20 m 37 m Journeyman · kalfalık
Sultan Ahmed Mosque (Blue Mosque) 1617 23.50 m 43 m After Sinan
New Mosque (Yeni Cami) 1665 17.50 m 36 m After Sinan
Nuruosmaniye Mosque 1755 25.40 m 43.5 m Ottoman Baroque
Grand Çamlıca Mosque 2019 34 m 72 m Modern

Byzantine benchmark. Canonical 31.24 m after Mainstone (1988) — the figure Ottoman architects themselves measured against. Modern surveys of the rebuilt dome show it is slightly elliptical (up to 31.87 m on the major axis).

Modern era. Çamlıca (2019) is Istanbul's largest dome — a 34 m span against Hagia Sophia's 31.24 m, the first dome in the city to out-span the Byzantine benchmark in almost 1,500 years. The mosque's figures are symbolic: 34 is Istanbul's provincial code, and its 72 m height stands for the 72 peoples of the city.