Touring Turkey / Edirne:

The greatest architect of Ottoman age is Sinan, leaving appx 450 structures in his nearly 100 years of lifetime... always trying something new, always improving himself. At the age of 68, he builts Suleymaniye Complex for Sultan Suleyman the Magnificent and this mosque still stays as the biggest in Istanbul.
For Sinan, calculations, formulas is an addiction and he shows off his perfection in every scructure he builts. On the other hand, he believes that his best is not the mosque he builts for Sultan Suleyman.
A largest dome ever...
is this possible ! yes, it is, just support the dome with strong columns.
But then, how do you hide these massive columns... people, while praying, do not like to see columns between them and the altar.
The other bother is... he had allready built a great mosque for Sultan Suleyman in Istanbul, so, the location of the new mosque shall be away from the city... noone surpasses the Magnificent or anything about him !
Fine... ride your house for 3 days and built the new mosque over there.
A perfect location... the ex-capital city of Ottoman empire - before Istanbul. This is Edirne.
A perfect chance... the new sultan now is Selim the Grid and he needs a mosque.
At his age of 80, in seven years, he builts the mosque for Sultan Selim; Selimiye in Edirne... a true landmark of the city... the biggest ever, the largest dome ever !

Sure... he shows off again !
From whichever angle you look, this mosque becomes his masterpiece.

p.s. Edirne today, from the highway, is 3 hours driving away from Istanbul.