SELIMIYE MOSQUE, EDIRNE

Built 1569 –1575. Located in the city of Edirne, the third capital of the Ottoman Empire. Part of a larger complex that included a hospital, madrasah, library, timekeeper's room, hammam and arasta (a row of shops). Said to be the perfect synthesis of architecture and embellishment. Commissioned by Sultan Selim II, the mosque was built by the imperial architect Mimar Sinan, who considered it his masterpiece.