The Sultanahmet Camii, also known as the Sultan Ahmed Mosque or the Blue Mosque, is one of the most prominent landmarks of Istanbul.
The Blue Mosque was built between 1609 and 1616. The Ottoman Sultan Ahmet I deliberately chose the site to face Hagia Sophia, which used to be the great Christian Church of the Holy Wisdom during the Byzantine era. Sedefhar Mehmet Aga, the architect, was given an mandate by the Sultan to spare no expense in creating the most magnificent and beautiful place of Islamic worship in the world. Unfortunately, the architect was unable to construct a bigger dome than Hagia Sophia's, so he instead tried to impress the sultan by building domes, semidomes and minarets to perfect proportions. The failure to surpass Hagia Sophia in size still greatly upset the Sultan.
There is also an interesting story of the mosque: according to it, the Sultan originally wanted to have a minaret made of gold, which is "altin" in Turkish. The architect misunderstood him as "alti", which means "six" in English.
Prior to that time, no Sultan had a mosque with minarets (the only mosque that had six minarets was the mosque of Ka'aba in Mecca). Therefore, Sultan Ahmet was said to be pleased about the minarets. At the same time, he was criticised for presumption as the Ka'aba mosque is supposed to be the holiest place of worship in the religion and he shouldn't have built another mosque to compete with it. Eventually, he overcame this problem by paying for the construction of a seventh minaret at the Mecca mosque.
A little info on minaret( منارة): Minaret is a distinctive features of Islamic mosques. It generally consists of tall spire, with an onion-shaped crowns. But what is it exactly used for?
According to Wiki:
The Blue Mosque was built between 1609 and 1616. The Ottoman Sultan Ahmet I deliberately chose the site to face Hagia Sophia, which used to be the great Christian Church of the Holy Wisdom during the Byzantine era. Sedefhar Mehmet Aga, the architect, was given an mandate by the Sultan to spare no expense in creating the most magnificent and beautiful place of Islamic worship in the world. Unfortunately, the architect was unable to construct a bigger dome than Hagia Sophia's, so he instead tried to impress the sultan by building domes, semidomes and minarets to perfect proportions. The failure to surpass Hagia Sophia in size still greatly upset the Sultan.
There is also an interesting story of the mosque: according to it, the Sultan originally wanted to have a minaret made of gold, which is "altin" in Turkish. The architect misunderstood him as "alti", which means "six" in English.
Prior to that time, no Sultan had a mosque with minarets (the only mosque that had six minarets was the mosque of Ka'aba in Mecca). Therefore, Sultan Ahmet was said to be pleased about the minarets. At the same time, he was criticised for presumption as the Ka'aba mosque is supposed to be the holiest place of worship in the religion and he shouldn't have built another mosque to compete with it. Eventually, he overcame this problem by paying for the construction of a seventh minaret at the Mecca mosque.
A little info on minaret( منارة): Minaret is a distinctive features of Islamic mosques. It generally consists of tall spire, with an onion-shaped crowns. But what is it exactly used for?
According to Wiki:
"minarets originally served as watchtowers illuminated by torches (hence the derivation of the word from the Arabic nur, meaning "light"). In more recent times, the main function of the minaret was to provide a vantage point from which the muezzin can call out the adhan, calling the faithful to prayer. In most modern Mosques, the adhan is called not in the minaret, but in the musallah, or prayer hall, via a microphone and speaker system. Therefore, the role of the minaret is now largely for traditional and decorative purposes."
The mosque itself covers a large area. This mosque used to be part of a larger complex, including "a covered bazaar, Turkish baths, public kitchens, a hospital, schools, a caravanserai, and the mausoleum of Sultan Ahmet." (Source: http://english.istanbul.gov.tr/Default.aspx?pid=308) Unfortunately, some of these buildings has not survived through the times.
In the north portico of the front courtyard, there were some ablution fountains.
These ablution fountains are for people who are getting prepared to pray in the mosque. 
From the main entrance
SP and I in the inner courtyard
The original handmade silk carpets were recently replaced by uniformed, coarse, machine-made carpets. The mosque became known as the Blue Mosque because its interior paintwork used to be predominately blue. The blue paint was not part of the originally decor so it has been replaced by the original lighter-coloured paintwork during the last restoration. Therefore, the interior of the mosque does not look THAT blue anymore:
Photos with the local school kids!
For more information:
When you are planning your visit to the mosque, one should note that there are prayer fives times a days. (First one in the very early in morning, second at noon time, third in afternoon, fourth in evening and last fifth before going to bed. ) The mosque is closed to public during each prayer for about 1.5 hour.
When you are planning your visit to the mosque, one should note that there are prayer fives times a days. (First one in the very early in morning, second at noon time, third in afternoon, fourth in evening and last fifth before going to bed. ) The mosque is closed to public during each prayer for about 1.5 hour.
1 comment:
Blue Mosque is my dream building in Istanbul.
Blue Mosques dome is beatiful.
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