ISTANBUL
With its cascading domes and six minarets, Sultan Ahmed Mosque, popularly known as the Blue Mosque in abroad, is one of the Ottoman imperial mosques in Istanbul and one of the most impressive monuments in the world.
The mosque, which incorporates classical Ottoman and some Byzantine elements, is located near Hagia Sophia, over the site of the ancient hippodrome and Byzantine imperial palace.
The interior of the mosque, which fascinates many people, is lined with more than 21,043 handmade ceramic tiles and more than fifty different tulip designs. The decorations include verses from the Quran, many of them made by Seyyid Kasim Gubari, regarded as the greatest calligrapher of his time.
However none of the exterior is blue - the name of Blue Mosque comes from the blue tiles adorning its interior walls. Six minarets also made the mosque unique as the most mosques had maximum four minarets.
At the same time, It was controversial to build a mosque with six minarets because only holy place of Masjid al-Haram, the Grand Mosque in Mecca, had six minarets in that term. Sultan Ahmet I solved the problem by adding seventh minaret to the Grand Mosque.
Construction of the mosque started in 1609 when Sultan Ahmet I decided to build a huge mosque which would be better than the Hagia Sophia. He appointed his royal architect Sedefhar Mehmet Aga to be in charge of the mosque. The construction lasted for 7 years and the mosque opened to worship in 1616.
But Sultan Ahmet I died just a year after the completion of his masterpiece, at the age of 28 and was buried outside the mosque with his wife and three sons. Like many other mosques, it comprises a tomb of the founder, a madrasa and a hospice.
- Sultan Ahmed Mosque is unique with its minarets in Istanbul
On the other hand, Sultan Ahmed Mosque is the only mosque with 6 minarets in Istanbul but Turkey hosts two other mosques with six minarets. One of them is Hz. Mikdat Mosque in southern Turkish city of Mersin and the other one is Sabanci Merkez Mosque, which is also located in southern of Turkey, in Adana.
The Blue Mosque is big enough to host thousands of people to worship. "Around 20,000 people can worship at the mosque at the same time," Ishak Kizilaslan, Imam of the Blue Mosque, told Anadolu Agency (AA), "It has 260 windows. Comparing to other mosques built by sultans, it receives much more sunlight thanks to its windows."
It is also a popular tourist attraction of Istanbul as well as a place of worship. "Around 20,000 tourists visit here daily. Tourists are surprised when they came here. Because they see that they can communicate with the imam of the mosque," Kizilaslan told.
Many tourists visiting the mosque say it is different from the others. Stating that it was a different experience to be in a mosque, a tourist from China said, "This is the first time that I've been in a mosque. It is beautiful. It is different from the others."
"Mosques here are very different from those that I've seen before. I saw smaller ones so far. This mosque is the greatest one that I've seen before," another tourist from Italy told.
- Pope Benedict XVI and Obama visit Blue Mosque
Many heads of states visit here along with Hagia Sophia when they come to Turkey. Pope Benedict XVI and US President Barack Obama were among them. When the pope entered the mosque, he paused for a few minutes, closing his eyes in silent meditation.
The pontiff's visit in 2006 was historic in terms of marking as the second papal visit in history to a Muslim place of worship.
After his visit he said that Turkey “will be a bridge of friendship and collaboration between the East and the West” and thanked the Turkish people for the sympathy they showed him throughout his stay.
US President Barack Obama is another world-famous visitor of the mosque. Obama toured the mosque along with neighboring Hagia Sophia during his Istanbul visit in 2009.
englishnews@aa.com.tr
