Turkey: Online exhibit honors Suleiman the Magnificent

By Musa Alcan

ISTANBUL (AA) – An online exhibit is marking the half-millennium since Ottoman Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent rose to the throne.

The virtual exhibition titled “The Age of Suleiman the Magnificent” will display the great sultan’s poems written under the pen name Muhibbi or Lover in English and his nearly 50-year reign.

Among the works selected for the display are ones coming from Istanbul’s historic Suleymaniye Manuscript Library and several other libraries, including Koprulu, Atif Efendi, Nuruosmaniye, and Ragip Pasa.

Visitors will have the opportunity to see 46 manuscripts in the exhibit, which aims to sum up Sultan Suleiman's reign and present examples of the art of his era.

To see the exhibit, go to suleymaniye.yek.gov.tr/kanunisergisi.

Suleiman is considered by many historians as the most successful Ottoman sultan. His rule from 1520 to 1566 saw bold military campaigns that expanded the realm as well as developments in the fields of law, literature, art, and architecture.