The Fall of an Empire

Cartoon Depicting the "Sick Man of Europe"

For nearly a century after it was built, the mosque stood as one of the tallest structures in Istanbul (from sea level) and one of the most famous mosques in the city. The mosque represented the economic and military height of the Ottoman Empire. However, during the 1600’s, the Ottoman Empire gradually began to decline. In 1683, the Ottoman Empire was defeated by the Hapsburg empire in their attack on Vienna, marking the turning point of the empire. Soon afterwards, the empire continued to lose territory in Hungary, Ukraine, and the southern parts of Greece. “As its military practices and technology fell behind, reducing fear of Ottoman power, European diplomats began calling the empire ‘the sick man of Europe’” (384).

Territorial Losses

This decline was mirrored through the structural deterioration of the Süleymaniye Mosque. Costly military initiatives created economic challenges for the empire. “Higher taxes, growing corruption, bureaucratic bloat, and increasing peasant poverty” (384) made it very difficult for the empire to focus on maintaining and preserving the mosque. As a result, the Süleymaniye Mosque structurally deteriorated. In 1660, the mosque was severely destroyed by a fire and in 1766, an earthquake caused the central dome of the mosque to collapse (2). This gradual deterioration adds another layer of historical significance to its role as a lieux de memoire because it reflects the eventual decline of the Ottoman Empire.