Sinan  demonstrated his transformation of the Hagia Sophia plan from which he had drawn his inspiration: his dome  which has a diameter of 26 meters (85 feet) and a height of 51.8 meters (170 feet),  is buttressed by two half-domes and two typanum walls.

Sinan's solution of putting four minarets at the corners of his arcaded courtyard  sets up a counterpoint between a solid volume on the mosque side and a inner space on the courtyard side.

The Hagia Sophia church and the Suleymaniye mosque: a thousand years apart but tied together eternally. One representing the achievement of the Christian-Byzantine empire and the other representing the ability of the Islamic-Ottoman empire and its architect Sinan. Two empires that had very little in common other than their architecture and region. In earlier history the Dome of the Rock represented the Islamic empire's attempt to rival the newly defeated Byzantine empire and its architectural achievements such as the Holy Sepulchre.
As history often repeats itself, with similar political motives the Suleymaniye mosque became the Ottoman's answer to the Byzantine's great achievement in their area - the Hagia Sophia. The result is that one finds in the Suleymaniye mosque the inspiration of the Hagia Sophia as well as the distinctive Islamic qualities that  Sinan brought to it.

Because Sinan worked on the Hagia Sophia he became intimately familiar with its form and structure so its not surprising that it had an influence on much of his work. Of all his buildings, conceptually the Suleymaniye is probably the most similar to the Hagia Sophia with the basic concept of the central domed space made larger with attached semidomed spaces which in turn have smaller spaces attached topped by smaller domes. Because the dome of the Hagia Sophia was considered to be a great feat for the Christians  Sinandesigned the dome of the Suleymaniye to send the message that not only were Muslims just as capable but, with an even larger and higher dome, that they were superior.

Sinan, who created over 400 works in his own time, was the royal architect under Suleyman and as such was also in charge of the Hagia Sophia's restoration.
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Suleyman the magnificent mosque
 
 
 
The mosque is part of a great Kulliye which comprises a mosque, four medreses, a medical medrese, darussifa, darulhadis, medrese, primary school, darulkurra, tabhane, daruzziyafe, caravanserai, shops, hammam and tombs. It is the largest Ottoman complex with construction involving the organisation of the one of the largest building site in the history of architecture.  This is an advanced model of the multi-purpose complex designed as a school of higher education in which instruction was given in a great variety of scholarly subjects.. They were all  begun in 1550 by the architect Sinan and completed in 1557.
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suleymaniye camii
This Kulliye is a symbolic creation of the most brilliant period of the Ottoman State, the most powerful ruler and the greatest architect. Members of the Imperial Association of Architects, Janissary recruits and members of the Janissary Corps, together with paid workers and galley slaves from all over the Empire were conscripted for labour on the project. In summer months the workforce numbered an average of 2,000. The official opening of the mosque was carried out by Mimar Sinan on the orders of the Sultan.
Suleyman was the wealthiest  and most powerful Sultan of the Ottoman empire. He is known by the Turks as the Ottoman sultan who introduced laws but not  by " magnificent" as his Western  title. He undertook much construction, rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem (which was part of the Ottoman Empire 1516), and a lot of monuments throughout his empire.

Inside his mosque you will be overwhelmed by its size and the simplicity.  The Iznik  tiles  and the colored stained glass-work bring light and harmony.  The four massive solid granite columns which support the mosque are from distant corners of the empire. One from Baalbek, another from Alexandria and two from old Byzantine Palaces. The paintings inside the mosque are dated from the 19th century and were recently renovated.