:: Blue Mosque ::

The Blue Mosque is one of the most prominent landmarks of Istanbul, especially when viewed from the First Hill or from the Asian shore of the Sea of Marmara. It is very impressive with its beautiful domes and semidomes, nice courtyards and six slender minarets. The Blue Mosque was founded by Sultan Ahmet I. He ordered Architect Mehmed Aga to begin constuction in 1609 and the whole complex was completed in 1616. The location of the mosque is just opposite of the splendid Church of Hagia Sophia as it is trying to compete with it.

The building is nearly a square and covered with a dome of 23.5 m.(77 feet) in diameter and 43m(140 feet) high. There are four colossal standing colums of 5m. in diameter(16.3 feet) which give the basic support to the building. The mosque has 260 windows which let the sunlight diffuse into the building quite nicely. They were filled with stained-glass in early 17C but they were restored later. The pulpit and nave is worth seeing, made of marble and original. The Imam(priest) goes on the pulpit every Friday on the sacred day of the Muslims but he never climbs to the very top as a respect to Prophet Muhammed. Everybody should turn their face to the south when praying, because Mecca( Saudi Arabia) is located in South.