Mimar Sinan was determined to achieve perfection and the quality of the tiles, carving of the minber and fluting of the piers add to the splendour of the ordered immensity of this interior. The eight piers achieve a circular movement which pivots on the central singing gallery. On special occasions – the last evening of Ramadan, Kandil (= birthday of the prophet Muhammad), and other – the solemn prayer can be accompanied by a male chorus reciting sacred texts.

Correspondent: J.M.Criel, Antwerpen.
Source: ‘Islamic Architecture: Ottoman Turkey’ (Godfrey Goodwin) – London 1977