The chief architect and engineer for three visionary Ottoman sultans, Koca Mi’mar Sinan Aga (or simply Mimar Sinan) was responsible for some 300 major and scores of minor structures across Istanbul and the empire. Everything from prosaic granaries, fortifications, public fountains, bridges and aqueducts, to the magnificent mosques in Edrine (the Selim) and Istanbul (the Shezade). In fact, at last count, historians credit him with 79 mosques, 34 palaces, 33 public baths, 19 tombs, 55 schools, seven madrasahs, 16 poorhouses, and 12 caravansaries, along with all the lesser projects.

The son of Armenian (or perhaps Greek) Christians, Sinan followed his father into the stonemason’s trade but was drafted into the Janissaries in 1512 AD. Following a period of training and schooling to rid him of those wrong-headed Christian ways, he became a military engineer in the Ottoman army, eventually rising to be Chief of Artillery (and thus the title of Aga). Around the age of 50, his skill in design and construction brought him to the attention of Suleiman the Magnificent and Sinan was appointed the royal architect. For the next 40 years, while the empire was at its height of power and prestige and wealth, Mimar Sinan would faithfully serve the whims of three great sultans. He didn’t stop until he died in 1588 … at the age of 98.