Mimar Sinan was the Chief Architect of the Ottoman Empire from 1538 to 1588. He is credited to have built and supervised over four hundred buildings during this period. The buildings have varied functions such as baths, tombs, madrasas, mosques, etc. that offer a rich scope of study for Classical Ottoman architecture.

However, Sinan's unique approach to each building and his ingenious structural solutions make him a dominant figure in architectural history. Although many of the architectural features and elements are not his inventions, he was certainly most innovative in using them. Also, his designs are different from the earlier Islamic buildings and the contemporary Western examples.

His architectural interpretation of the space, scale, and architectural elements carry him outside the boundries of Islamic architecture, and render him a subject of study within architectural history in general.

Especially, the mosques display Sinan's continuous experiments with the plan, the facade, the domed superstructure and the interior space over a period of time. Within this period, he has built mosques mostly in Istanbul, in Anatolian cities and in far lands that were Ottoman land at the time.