ISTANBUL
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Friday inaugurated the largest mosque of Turkey for worship in Istanbul.
The opening of Camlica Mosque after a six-year construction period coincides with the holy month of Ramadan starting on next monday.
The 63,000-capacity mosque on Istanbul's Camlica Hill in the Asian side of the city opened by Erdogan with Friday prayer.
Built in the Ottoman-Seljuk style of architecture, the mosque can be easily viewed from every corner of the city.
It is not only a mosque but also a complex, which includes a museum of Turkish Islamic art, a library, an art gallery, a conference hall, workshops as well as a car park with a 3,500-car capacity.
It has six minarets representing the six beliefs of Islam. Four minarets are 107.1 meters tall, a tribute to the 1071 Manzikert victory of the Seljuk Turks against the Byzantine army that opened up Anatolia for Turkish domination.
Its 72-meter high main dome represents 72 nations living in the city. The second dome with a diameter of 34 meters represents the car license number plate of Istanbul.
There are 16 names of Allah inscribed inside the dome, symbolizing the number of states founded by Turks.
A three-piece finial on the main dome, weighing 4.5 tons and at a height of 7.77 meters is the largest of its kind.
A 17,000-square-meter carpet rolled out at the mosque is a specially designed hand-knotted carpet. The minbar of the mosque, a pulpit from which sermons of Friday and religious festivals are delivered, is 21-meter high and can be lifted through an elevator.
The mosque can host eight funeral prayers at a time.
