[2] The 17th-century Ottoman writer and traveler, Evliya Çelebi, reported the presence of an inscription on the minaret which recorded repairs effected in 940 AH (1533–1534 CE).

[3] The central room also contains a mihrab (niche indicating the direction of prayer) and a minbar (pulpit) made of walnut wood.

[3] The entrance doorway to the mosque is an ornate marble archway carved with flowers and other motifs.

This portal formerly belonged to a funerary monument built by the Knights Hospitaller in 1510–1520,[3] which was probably part of the Church of Saint John that was destroyed in the 1856 explosion.

[12] Because mosques are required to be aligned with the qibla (direction of prayer), which did not necessarily match the orientation of existing streets and of surrounding buildings, the construction of new mosques in the city often involved clearing additional neighboring structures to accommodate the building's orientation.

This left an open space of irregular shape on the northwest side of the mosque (in front of its entrance), which was turned into a public square with a fountain for ablutions.

[5] The fountain in front of the Suleymaniye Mosque has an octagonal base with eight spoliated columns supporting a dome.