Selimiye Camii

If you ask somebody about the great mosques of Turkey, you usually get the same names — 99% of the people will immediately say Sultanahment/​Blue Mosque, and some will add Süleymaniye, the other really beautiful mosque in Istanbul. And that’s about it (not counting those who think that the Hagia Sophia is a mosque).
Süleymaniye was built by the greatest of all Turkish architects, Sinan, Sultanahmet was based on his ideas — and still, Sinan himself has always said that his masterpiece didn’t stand in Istanbul, but in Edirne, on the border to Greece and Bulgaria — Selimiye Camii.
So if the master himself says that his finest work is represented by this mosque, we should take a closer look. I personally couldn’t really decide which mosque is the most beautiful one — but I actually find it quite irrelevant, simply because all of them are incredibly beautiful buildings.
Selimiye is smaller than the other two, and feels much more intimate. At the same time the interiour feels spacious — contrary to the structure of older and more massive mosques, Slimiye was built to be less complex, with one giant dome, four identical minarets, and a less compartmented interior.
Edirne is a pretty city, and there is a lot to see — another stunning mosque, and the hospital museum just being the most obvious things to see. But even if Selimiye was the only place worth visiting, it would be reason enough to travel to Edirne. Beautiful.

An architectural highlight, one of the most appraised works of Mimar Sinan.