The Blue Mosque, also known as the Sultan Ahmet Mosque, just might be the most famous place in all of Istanbul, and it is surely among Turkey’s most photographed views. It overlooks the old city, and towers above the Sea of Marmara and the Bosphorus Straight.
The mastermind behind the mosque was Sultan Ahmet I, who ordered the construction of the mosque in 1609. Designed by Mehmet Aga, it took seven years to complete. It consists of a number of domes surrounded by six minarets. There is a huge central dome, that stretches a while 33 meters, or 100 feets, and has a lot of smaller domes all around it. They all sit atop four huge pillars which each measure 4.5 meters (15 feet) thick. These foundation pillars are known as the “elephant foot” pillars.
What you see inside the mosque ia amazing, because the interior of the dome and arches is covered with lovely Muslim calligraphy. In addition to that, the interior walls are covered with over 20,000 blue iznik tiles. The name “Blue Mosque” comes from these tiles, which solves one of the mysteries about the mosque that most travelers hold. The interior also features a perimeter of 260 stained glass windows, whose colored sunlight blends with the color of the blue tiles to create sheer brilliance. These windows,however,are replacement windows,since the originals were destroyed in an earthquake.
The Blue Mosque caused some controversy whwn it was first built. Before that time, the only mosque on the planet with six minarets had been a mosque in Makkah, so by building a six minaret mosque the Sultan had sent the message that Istanbul was on par with Makkah. He brilliantly solved the problem by having an extra minaret added to the mosque in Makkah, allowing it to retain its image of supremacy. This calmed religious fervor. The Blue Mosque sits at the meeting point of Europe and Western Asia.
Taken from : www.alazharway.com
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