The hall in front of the mosque, a bit like a nartex to some churches. At the end you can see a monument to Sinan, the architect of the Selimiye Mosque, that you will find if you turn slightly to the right after leaving this hall.

The mosque was damaged by a fire in 1748, and by an earthquake four years later. Sultan Mahmut I had it restored in 1754; on that occasion the present northern porch was built.

On the picture: The slightly elevated areas of the portico, left and right of the passage way to the main entrance, are the ‘son cemaat yeri’ (= ‘area for those who came late’), where worshippers who reached the mosque late or at the last moment, will gather and fulfill their prayer duty.

Correspondent: J.M.Criel, Antwerpen.
Source: ‘Türkye Tarihi Yerler Kılavuzu’ – M.Orhan Bayrak, Inkılâp Kitabevi, Istanbul, 1994.