More similarities can be drawn with the forms and structures of the two buildings. In addition to the dome and semidomes, the main arches, piers, buttresses, and galleries were adopted by the Suleymaniye. These were all part of the basic structural system in both buildings of a dome on four supports. Sinan also used pendentives as the structural system under the main dome and squinches as a transitional element between semidomes and the rest of the structure. Additionally Sinan used similar wide arches in the Suleymaniye although they were not needed structurally and were probably used for their formal appearance. The piers of the Suleymaniye are also similar with their projections used to support the bracing arches. These are the basic formal and structural similarities between the Hagia Sophia and the Suleymaniye Mosque which make them strikingly similar.
Noting these similarities might incline one to believe that the Suleymaniye was merely a successful imitation of the Hagia Sophia. This assumption would be incorrect and by noting the numerable dissimilarities its apparent that the Suleymaniye stands on its own. There is first and foremost the religious conceptual differences between the two buildings. The Hagia Sophia was originally a church with its arrangement dictated by a Christian tradition. The Suleymaniye Mosque is a place of worship for Muslims and its arrangement and forms are dictated by the Islamic religion. Some of the forms of the Suleymaniye are as mentioned found on the Hagia Sophia however there are certain basic elements in the mosque which would never be found in any church. The Suleymaniye Mosque contained such elements as the short and tall minarets, the courtyard with the central ritual fountain, the kibla wall, and the mihrab and minbar. Some of the shared formal elements are imbued with Islamic symbolism which demonstrate the conceptual differences between the two buildings even further. For example, the four massive granite columns are considered to symbolize the four caliphs Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman, and Ali who are the four pillars of Sunni theology. And the dome and four minarets represent the prophet and the four caliphs. Other differences can be found in the details like the Islamic tile decoration and stained glass windows on the kibla wall which had inscribed on them the attributes of God and phrases from the Light Verse. This calligraphy decoration, in addition to the other elements, is unique to Islamic architecture and makes the Suleymaniye mosque distinct from the Hagia Sophia.
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