This first week in Turkey has been an unending feast of sights, sounds, smells, and experiences. Intending no slight to any of the other wonderful things I’ve seen, I still hold as my favorite so far my afternoon at the Süleymaniye Mosque–the most beautiful and serene building I’ve ever known.

Sultan Süleyman the Magnificent commissioned the building in the mid-1500s. He charged Koca Mimar Sinan, his favorite–and one of Turkey’s most celebrated– architects, with the design.

All who entered that afternoon, including the often-rowdy tourists, seemed awed and calmed in this lovely, soaring space. I was among many who simply sat down on the magnificent orange and blue carpet, felt our hearts slow down and our blood pressures drop, and gazed around at a place that is majestic, graceful, artful, sophisticated, and perfectly proportioned from every viewpoint, inside and out, day and night.