Koca Mimar Sinan Agha

1489 - Koca Mimar Sinan Agha, born on the 15th of April was the Ottoman chief architect for sultans Selim I, Suleiman I, Selim II and Murad III. His masterpiece is the Selimiye Mosque in Edirne although his most famous work is the Suleiman Mosque in Istanbul. He was most probably born to an Orthodox Christian family.

1511 - He was forcibly conscripted into Ottoman service and he went to Istanbul as a dev irme recruit and served the Vizier ybrahim Paya as a novice of the Palace School.

1514 - He, a skilled architect and engineer, took part of Selim's military campaigns into east, as a part of the engineering corps.

       - When the Ottoman army captured Cairo, he was promoted chief architect and was given the privilege of tearing down any buildings in the captured city that were not according to the city plan.
      

       - He was also appointed commander of an infantry division, but was, at his own request, transferred to the command of the artillery instead.

1535 - During a Persian campaign, he built ships for the army to cross Lake Van. For this he was given the title Haseki'i, Sergeant-at-Arms in the body guard of the Sultan, a rank equivalent to that of the Janissary Aya.

1548 - First work was the ^ehzade Mosque, which he built.

1550 - 1557 - He started building the Süleymaniye Mosque.

1588 - He died on the 17th of July and is buried in a tomb just outside the walls of the Süleymaniye Mosque to the north, across a street named Mimar Sinan Caddesi in his honour. He is also honored with a crater on Mercury named after him.