Sensortopia

Sinan Tree

Sinan himself called Şehzade his apprentice work (çıraklık eseri), Süleymaniye his journeyman work (kalfalık), and the Selimiye in Edirne his master work (ustalık).

A chronological timeline of Sinan's 27 Istanbul mosques, banded by his own self-classification. The links between buildings are editorial — typological lineages documented by Gülru Necipoğlu (The Age of Sinan) and Goodwin. Not a family tree: connections trace plan-types and structural inheritances established in the literature.

Çıraklık — apprentice phase

1538–1548 through Şehzade

Sinan's first decade as chief court architect (mimarbaşı). From compact neighbourhood mosques to Şehzade — his self-described apprentice work, where he first resolves full four-way symmetry in domed space.

  1. 1538–1539
    Haseki Sultan Mosque ⌀ 11.3 m

    First imperial work by Sinan as chief court architect (1538).
  2. 1541–1542
    Tercüman Yunus Bey Mosque (Draman)

    Early career, three years after Sinan's appointment as chief imperial architect.
  3. 1541–1547
    Çukurcuma Mosque (Muhyiddin Molla Fenari)

    Sinan's early mimarbaşı phase (1541–1547), contemporaneous with Şehzade Mosque (1543–48).
  4. 1543–1548
    Mihrimah Sultan Mosque, Üsküdar / İskele Mosque ⌀ 10 m

    Earliest period — contemporary with Şehzade (both completed 1548).

    Mihrimah Sultan Mosque, Edirnekapı same patron
  5. 1543–1548
    Şehzade Mosque apprentice work ⌀ 18.42 m

    Earliest position — Sinan's first imperial commission as mimarbaşı and his self-described 'apprentice work' (çıraklık eseri).

    Süleymaniye Mosque Sinan's own framing Kara Ahmed Pasha Mosque cruciform plan

Kalfalık — journeyman phase

1548–1568 Süleymaniye and maturity

Maturity of the spatial vocabulary: a restrained two-semi-dome scheme at Süleymaniye, alongside structural experiments with hexagonal baldachin plans, total-tile interiors and column-tower clear spans (Mihrimah Edirnekapı).

  1. 1554–1555
    Sinan Pasha Mosque (Beşiktaş) ⌀ 12.6 m

    Early career (1554–55).

    Kara Ahmed Pasha Mosque hexagonal plan Molla Çelebi Mosque hexagonal plan Mesih Mehmed Pasha Mosque hexagonal plan
  2. 1555–1556
    Şah Sultan Mosque (Eyüp)

    A mid-career minor imperial-family commission (1555–56), contemporary with Süleymaniye's final completion.
  3. 1550–1557
    Süleymaniye Mosque journeyman work ⌀ 26.5 m

    Second major imperial mosque; Sinan's self-described 'journeyman work' (kalfalık eseri).

    Şehzade Mosque Sinan's own framing Hagia Sophia dialogue with Hagia Sophia
  4. 1559–1560
    Cihangir Mosque

    A commemorative commission of 1559 — between Süleymaniye (completed 1557) and the Mihrimah Edirnekapı experiments of the 1560s.
  5. 1559–1560
    İskender Pasha Mosque, Kanlıca

    Contemporaneous with late Süleymaniye phase (1560).

    Şemsi Pasha Mosque waterfront typology Sokollu Mehmed Pasha Mosque, Azapkapı waterfront typology
  6. 1562
    Ferruh Kethüda Mosque (Balat)

    1562 — contemporary with Rüstem Pasha (1561–63) and Mihrimah at Edirnekapı (1563–66).
  7. 1561–1563
    Rüstem Pasha Mosque ⌀ 15.2 m

    Mid-career (c. 1561–63).

    Sokollu Mehmed Pasha Mosque, Azapkapı octagonal plan Kılıç Ali Pasha Mosque octagonal plan
  8. 1563–1566
    Mihrimah Sultan Mosque, Edirnekapı ⌀ 20 m

    Late-middle period (1563–66).

    Mihrimah Sultan Mosque, Üsküdar / İskele Mosque same patron
  9. 1552–1572
    Merkez Efendi Mosque (Zeytinburnu)

    1552–1572 — Sinan's long-running small dervish-külliye work running in parallel with his major imperial commissions (Süleymaniye ended 1557, Mihrimah Edirnekapı 1563–66).
  10. 1565–1572
    Kara Ahmed Pasha Mosque ⌀ 12 m

    Middle career (1565–72).

    Sinan Pasha Mosque (Beşiktaş) hexagonal plan Şehzade Mosque cruciform plan
  11. 1567–1572
    Sokollu Mehmed Pasha Mosque, Kadırga ⌀ 13 m

    Mid-to-late mature period (1571).

    Atik Valide Mosque hexagonal plan
  12. 1565–1573
    Piyale Pasha Mosque ⌀ 9 m

    Anomalous mid-period work (1565–1573).
  13. 1561–1584
    Molla Çelebi Mosque ⌀ 11.8 m

    Mid-to-late career hexagonal baldaquin experiment (dates disputed: 1561–1584).

    Sinan Pasha Mosque (Beşiktaş) hexagonal plan
  1. 1568–1574
    Selimiye, Edirne master work

    Sinan's master work — outside Istanbul. Mihrimah Edirnekapı (1563–66) had been the Istanbul-scale proof of concept; Selimiye realised those structural ideas at full scale. Commissioned by Selim II, four minarets, dome diameter 31.3 m — beating Hagia Sophia by 10 cm.

Ustalık — master phase

1568–1588 after Selimiye

After Selimiye in Edirne, the late Istanbul works: hexagonal and octagonal baldachin schemes brought to their definitive form, in parallel with a wave of small neighbourhood mosques (Şemsi Paşa, Ramazan Efendi) right up to the year of his death.

  1. 1577–1578
    Sokollu Mehmed Pasha Mosque, Azapkapı

    1577–78 — Sinan's late imperial phase, after Selimiye (Edirne, 1568–74) and alongside the very late Istanbul commissions (Zal Mahmud Pasha, Kılıç Ali Pasha).

    Rüstem Pasha Mosque octagonal plan İskender Pasha Mosque, Kanlıca waterfront typology
  2. 1578–1580
    Kılıç Ali Pasha Mosque ⌀ 12.7 m

    Very late period (1578–1580, Sinan c.90 years old).

    Rüstem Pasha Mosque octagonal plan Hagia Sophia dialogue with Hagia Sophia
  3. 1580
    Şemsi Pasha Mosque ⌀ 8 m

    Very late period miniature (1580, Sinan c.90 years old).

    İskender Pasha Mosque, Kanlıca waterfront typology
  4. 1585
    Hacı Evhad Mosque (Yedikule)

    1585 — among the very last works attributed to Sinan (died 1588), contemporary with Ramazan Efendi, Mesih Mehmed Pasha, and Mehmed Agha mosques.
  5. 1571–1586
    Atik Valide Mosque ⌀ 12.7 m

    Late period masterwork (1571–1586).

    Sokollu Mehmed Pasha Mosque, Kadırga hexagonal plan
  6. 1585–1586
    Mesih Mehmed Pasha Mosque ⌀ 12.8 m

    Very late work (1585–86), built only 2–3 years before Sinan's death in 1588.

    Sinan Pasha Mosque (Beşiktaş) hexagonal plan
  7. 1585–1586
    Ramazan Efendi Mosque (Kocamustafapaşa / Bezirgânbaşı)

    1585–1586 — among Sinan's very last works (age ~96; died 1588), contemporaneous with Hacı Evhad (1585), Mesih Mehmed Pasha (1586), and Mehmed Agha (1585).
  8. 1584–1589
    Nişancı Mehmed Pasha Mosque ⌀ 14.2 m

    Very late career / posthumous (1584–89, completed 1589, one year after Sinan's death in 1588).
  9. 1577–1590
    Zal Mahmud Pasha Mosque ⌀ 12.5 m

    Very late career (1577–1590).

† 1588 — Sinan dies, aged about 98