Selimiye Mosque Visiting Hours, Etiquette and Architecture

Selimiye Mosque visiting hours follow prayer times; entry is free. Dress code, photo rules, the 31.30 m dome and the upside-down tulip: read before you go.

The Selimiye Mosque has no fixed ticket-office hours. The mosque is open every day, and visits pause for prayer times. Entry is free. Friday noon is crowded. The Selimiye Foundation Museum in the courtyard is open 09:00–17:00 except Mondays, according to Edirne Municipality records. The hours below follow this; check the day's prayer times with Diyanet (the Presidency of Religious Affairs).

Café & Restaurant

Coffee, desserts and a relaxing break

The Selimiye is the work of Mimar Sinan, 1568–1575 (some sources give 1574 for its completion). Its four minarets are 70.89 m tall. It was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2011 (list no. 1366). This is not a museum but a working mosque, so the answer to "what time does it open?" depends on prayer times rather than the clock.

Quick Overview

What do the Selimiye Mosque visiting hours depend on?

The mosque is open from around sunrise towards sunset; in winter it gets dark early, while in summer the courtyard stays open until late. After the morning prayer the interior is quiet. Around the noon and afternoon prayers the congregation goes in, and visitors wait outside for a while.

Writing exact minutes here would be misleading. Edirne's prayer times are a few minutes off Istanbul's. Before you set off, check Diyanet's times for Edirne. Summer and winter tables circulate on visitor websites; they are practical estimates, not an official ticket-office timetable.

Stay

Stay in Edirne Kaleiçi with breakfast included

On Fridays the noon prayer is the longest break. Sources often mention the 12:00–14:00 window. If you are coming on a Friday, come either in the morning, 09:00–11:30, or after the afternoon prayer.

On Ramadan evenings the courtyard fills with iftar and tarawih prayers. If you want to see the interior, visit around noon that day.

What happens inside during prayers?

At the five daily prayers the congregation has priority. Even if the door is not closed, walking around inside or pointing a camera is not appropriate. You wait 30–45 minutes in the courtyard or in the Arasta.

Events

Engagements, small weddings and private celebrations

Shoes come off, and shoulders and knees are covered. Visitors in shorts or strappy tops are sometimes given a cover; bring a shawl. Keep your voice down. Turn off the flash.

45 minutes inside is enough: the mihrab, the tiles, the dome. The minarets cannot be climbed.

Selimiye Foundation Museum hours

The museum is next to the mosque. Its address in the municipality record is Meydan Mahallesi, Taş Odalar No: 2. It belongs to the General Directorate of Foundations. Closed on Mondays, other days 09:00–17:00 (listed the same in summer and winter). Do not arrive after 16:30 for last entry. For ticket prices and public holiday closures, check with the General Directorate of Foundations or the museum ticket desk before you go.

Breakfast

A generous Turkish breakfast spread in the garden

The museum and the mosque belong to the same complex but have separate hours. The museum may stay open while the mosque closes for prayer, and vice versa.

When to go and what is nearby

For light, 09:00–11:30 is good. At summer noon the courtyard is hot; 15:00–18:00 is softer. In winter, 10:00–12:00 makes a short, clear visit.

The Selimiye Arasta is part of the complex; it is attributed to Davud Ağa in the reign of Murad III, with 73 arches / 124 shops mentioned. If the mosque is closed, a walk through the Arasta is not wasted. If you want to see the city's other museums in turn, the Edirne museums guide is a good start.

Üç Şerefeli (1438–1447) and the Old Mosque (1403–1414) are in the same circle. Do not squeeze all three into one noon; the Selimiye and the Arasta are enough, and leave the others for the afternoon.

We are in Kaleiçi, at İzmir Caddesi No: 18. The Selimiye is a 12–15 minute walk away (about 950 m). Breakfast at the guesthouse is 09:00–13:00, so you can visit the mosque early and come back to the table (Turkish breakfast in Kaleiçi). For a Turkish coffee break after your visit, see our Kaleiçi cafe page. Location: our location in Kaleiçi, Edirne (Google Maps).

From Istanbul, the TEM takes 2.5–3.5 hours. If you want to make Friday noon, leave before 07:00; if you cannot, aim for 14:30. By train, Halkalı–Edirne is ~5.5 hours: the morning service gets you to the mosque by noon, while the evening service does not arrive before sunset in winter.

A short history of the Selimiye Mosque

The Selimiye was built on the orders of Sultan Selim II; it stands on Edirne's highest ridge, at a place formerly called Sarıbayır or Kavak Meydanı. Sources say a palace built by Bayezid I once stood here. Mimar Sinan completed the building in his eighties and called it his "masterpiece" among his works. Its silhouette, visible from every direction in Edirne, shows that the choice of site was also an urban planning decision.

According to records, the complex covers 22,202 m² in total. The interior of the mosque is 1,620 m², and its courtyard (harem) 2,475 m². Together with the Arasta and the madrasas, the mosque was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2011.

Architectural features of the Selimiye Mosque

The first thing you notice when you step inside is a single unified space without a crowd of columns. Sinan achieved this by setting the dome on an octagonal support system.

The dome and the light

Official records in Edirne give the dome's diameter as 31.30 m and its height from the floor to the keystone as 43.28 m (some sources give 31.22–31.28 m). The dome rests on eight massive piers linked by arches 6 m wide; four half-domes at the corners and one over the mihrab spread the load. The drum has 40 windows. As morning and afternoon light enters through them, the colour of the interior changes hour by hour; this is why it is worth considering the light when choosing your visiting time.

Four minarets

Each of the four corner minarets has three balconies, and sources give their height as 70.89 m. Their slender shafts visually lighten the weight of the dome; whichever road you take into the city, these four minarets are the first thing you see.

The muezzin's platform, the mihrab and the upside-down tulip

Directly under the dome is the muezzin's platform, set on 12 marble columns, with a small fountain beneath it. On one of its marble legs you can see the famous upside-down tulip relief. According to legend, the site of the mosque was a tulip garden whose owner resisted giving up the land, so Sinan carved the tulip upside down. Because the relief is only a few centimetres in size, there is usually a small group of visitors in front of it; the easiest way to find it is to ask an attendant.

The İznik tiles on the mihrab wall, the marble minbar and the sultan's loge are the most colourful parts of the interior. To see the tiles up close, wait for the quiet minutes after prayer.

Dress code and photo rules at the Selimiye

As the mosque is a working place of worship, there are a few simple rules:

• Clothing: Modest clothes covering shoulders and knees; a headscarf for women. A cover may be offered at the entrance, but bring a shawl.
• Shoes: Taken off at the entrance; bags are usually available, and a small bag makes things easier.
• Photography: Generally allowed. Do not use flash, do not walk in front of people praying and do not take close-ups of the congregation.
• Quiet: Put your phone on silent; if you come as a group, give explanations in the courtyard.

For those who want to see the Selimiye and the other buildings around it in one day, the things to do in Edirne guide gives an ordered route; if you would like to stay within walking distance of the Selimiye, see our stay near the Selimiye Mosque page.

Frequently Asked Questions

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