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Journal of Undergraduate Research

Keywords

Sinan, Tekkiya Suleymaniya, Damascus Syria, architecture

College

Fine Arts and Communications

Department

Art

Abstract

One of the most mysterious architects of the Islamic Middle East was Mimar Sinan, the Ottoman architect who designed some of the most famous Ottoman buildings during the 16th century CE. He grew up as a Christian youth in the central part of Anatolia (modern day Turkey) but was co-opted into the Ottoman Janissary army where he eventually rose to become the Chief Architect of the Ottoman Empire. His buildings represent the glory of the Golden Age of the Ottoman Empire under Sultan Suleyman the Magnificent. My ORCA research focused on one of the buildings attributed to Sinan, the Tekkiya Suleymaniye in Damascus. This building had critical importance for the Ottoman political agenda in the Middle East in the middle 17th century. The Tekkiya was utilized as the last stop and resting place for Muslim pilgrims on the way to Mecca on the holy hajj. My ORCA project was to travel to Syria and Turkey for necessary architectural on-site analysis and to explore certain aspects of the building in order to consolidate the sparse amount of research that had been done on the Tekkiya. This information would be presented to the Syrian government in an effort to raise awareness for the building, which is currently in poor condition.

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