[3] This building was burned down by rebel Janissaries in 1812[4][5] but was rebuilt in stone by Mahmud II between 1825 and 1828 and further expanded into its current form by Abdülmecid I between 1842 and 1853.

[2][6] The barracks was a new building type in Ottoman architecture which arose in conjunction with Selim III's reform attempts, the Nizam-I Cedid ('New Order'), which among other things created a new Western-style army.

[1] The mosque was part of a külliye (charitable complex) that also included a mektep (primary school), a muvakkithane (timekeeper's house), a fountain and a hamam (bathhouse).

More innovative was the inclusion an array of factories, shops, and modern facilities such as a printing house arranged to form the nucleus of a new neighbourhood with a regular grid of streets.

The side galleries that were usually present inside earlier mosques were in this case moved completely outside the prayer hall, along the building's exterior, leaving the interior more open and unencumbered.

[11] At the back of the prayer hall, opposite the mihrab, is a gallery or balcony that allows access between the mosque and the imperial pavilion.

[14]Once used by both visitors to the mosque and by soldiers from the barracks, the complex's baths, known as the Selimiye Hamamı, have been allowed to fall into decay.