Suleiman the Magnificent: From Belgrade to Szigetvár

The sultan's campaign opens here. Belgrade was taken on 24 August 1521. Of about 700 defenders, only about 70 survived, and Suleiman spared their lives. Most of the Serbian inhabitants, however, were deported to Istanbul. The fortress stayed under Ottoman rule until 1867, apart from short periods of Austrian and Serbian occupation. Today the fortress and its park are open to walk through.

Visitor guidance: The fortress and Kalemegdan park are in the centre of Belgrade and can be walked through.

On 29 August 1526 Suleiman's army met the Hungarian army on a wide, waterlogged plain near the village of Mohács. The Hungarian lines collapsed within two hours. King Louis II tried to flee but drowned in the marshy ground near the Csele stream. Finding the king's body, Suleiman is reported to have regretted that he was cut off so young.

Location precision: The sources place the battle on a plain near Mohács without a single exact spot; the pin marks the town, not the battlefield.

In 1529 Suleiman reached Vienna with over 100,000 men. The defenders, led by the veteran Niklas Graf Salm, numbered no more than 21,000. Salm fortified the old walls around St. Stephen's Cathedral, near which he set his headquarters. Vienna survived despite the odds. The cathedral still dominates the old centre; its 136 m south tower is nicknamed the Steffl.

Location precision: The pin marks St. Stephen's Cathedral, beside Salm's headquarters; the siege lines ran around the whole city.

Visitor guidance: St. Stephen's Cathedral stands on Stephansplatz in central Vienna.

Back in Istanbul, Suleiman built a monument to his reign. He chose the architect Mimar Sinan and wanted a mosque that would surpass all those of his predecessors. The inscription above the prayer hall gives 1550 as the foundation date and 1557 as the inauguration. It is the largest Ottoman-era mosque in the city. Behind the qibla wall lies an enclosed cemetery with the octagonal mausoleums of Suleiman and his wife Hürrem Sultan.

Visitor guidance: The mosque and the mausoleums of Suleiman and Hürrem stand in Istanbul's Fatih district.

In 1566 the aged sultan marched on Hungary once more, but the fort of Szigetvár blocked his way to Vienna. The siege ran from 5 August to 8 September 1566. Suleiman's war tent stood on Semlék hill. He offered the commander, Zrinski, rule over all Croatia if he surrendered; Zrinski refused. Both commanders died during the siege: Zrinski in the final charge, Suleiman in his tent. The siege stopped the Ottoman push towards Vienna that year. The town's name means 'island castle'.

Location precision: The pin marks Szigetvár Castle; the siege lines and Suleiman's camp on Semlék hill lay around it.