It is situated in the business center of the city to the east of the Aziziye Mosque.

The mosque was built next to the funerary shrine complex of Mevlana Celalüddin Rumi, a Persian sufi mystic (today the Mevlâna Museum).

[1] The mosque had been commissioned in 1558 by Selim II while he was still a şehzade (prince) working as a sanjak governor.

Although the mosque was constructed while Mimar Sinan held the post of chief architect, the building is not listed in any of his autobiographies.

The praying area is roofed by a big dome.