Mimar Sinan designed the mosque for the grand vizier Sokollu Mehmed Pasha and, the article says, his wife Ismihan Sultan, though the foundation inscription names only Sokollu. Construction began about 1568, and the inscription gives completion as 979 AH, or 1571 to 1572. It stands on a steep slope in Kadırga.
Sinan fronted it with a two-story courtyard. The ground story held shops whose rents were meant to fund upkeep, and the upper story held rooms for a madrasa. The mosque is a hexagon inscribed in a rectangle, with four small semi-domes at the corners. The dome is about 43 feet (13 m) across and 75 feet (22.8 m) high on outer measurements, and one minaret stands at the northeast corner.
Iznik tiles in blue, red and green floral designs line the interior, with polychrome marble columns and a white marble minbar. Pieces of the black stone of the Kaaba are set above the entrance, minbar and mihrab.
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