Blue Mosque

Background:  This famous and gorgeous mosque is one of the world's finest.  It was built in just 7 years by the architect Mehmet Aga.  He also rebuilt Kaaba, the holiest shrine of Islam with the giant black cube at the center of the mosque in the holy city of Mecca.  Locals call it the Sultan Ahmet Mosque for the ruler who financed it, but travelers know it as the Blue Mosque because of the rich blue color of the handmade ceramic tiles that dominate the interior.  ~ RICK STEVES' ISTANBUL

Six Minarets

Aside from its impressive scale and opulent interior, the Blue Mosque is unique because of its 6 minarets.  According to Muslim tradition, the imam (prayer leader) or the muezzin (a man chosen for his talent in correctly voicing the call to prayer) would climb to the top of a minaret 5 times each day to announce the call to prayer.  On hearing this warbling chant, Muslims are to come to the mosque to pray.  Today, an imam or muezzin still performs the call to prayer, but now it's amplified by loudspeakers at the top of the minarets.  

Look for a movie on the Blue Mosque Album to hear a call to prayer from the Blue Mosque and neighboring mosques.

Why Six Minarets?

The stories go like this:  Sultan Ahmet I asked the architect for a gold (altin in Turkish) minaret, but the man thought he said six (alti).  Some others think he requested the 6 minarets to flaunt his wealth. At the time, the central mosque in the holy city of Mecca also had 6.  The clergy at Mecca feared that Ahmet's new mosque would upstage theirs, so the sultan built a 7th minaret at Mecca!  Which story do you believe?  

Outer Courtyard

Cindy is at the entrance to the Outer Courtyard.  The outdoor courtyard has water taps for ablution, the ritual cleansing of the body before worshipping.  Brrrr, that would be really cold today!

Inner Courtyard

The courtyard is surrounded by a portico, which provides shade and shelter.  The shutters along the back wall open in summer for ventilation.  When the mosque fills up for special services, worshippers who can't fit inside pray in this area.  Today such jam-packed services are rare.  Muslins are no longer required to actually go to the mosque 5 times each day; they can pray anywhere.  The exception is the midday service on Friday, which the Quran dictates should be a time for all worshippers to come together in congregation.

Old Fountain

Ben and Cindy are standing by this fancy old fountain in the center of the Inner Courtyard. It was the original place for ablution, before the taps were placed in the Outer Courtyard.  It is no long functional.  

Interior

Stepping into the interior, you can understand why this is called the Blue Mosque.  It takes a moment to breathe in the vast and intensely decorated interior.  

Cindy is in the visitor section with her headscarf on and her shoes off.  On the other side of the wood railing is the area reserved for worshippers, who fill the space at all times of the day.  

On the far left is the highly decorated marble niche the golden triangle on the top.  This is the mihrab, which points southeast to Mecca, where all Muslims face when they worship, as you can see. 

On the right side of the apse is a staircase leading up to a platform with a cone on top.  This is another mimber, similar to a pulpit in a Christian church.  A mimber is symbolic of the growth of Islam because Muhammad had to stand higher and higher to talk to his growing following.  

 The upper walls are decorated with floral-designed stained-glass windows, many of them still original from the 17th century.  

This fancy marble platform elevated on columns is where the choir sings hymns a cappella on important religious days.

Mosque services are segregated.  The main hall, you just saw, is reserved for men, while women use this colonnaded area behind the barriers at the back, on both sides of the main entrance.  You might think it is demeaning to make women stay in back, but most Muslims feel it's respectful to women and more conductive to prayer.  The men too are better able to concentrate on God without the distraction of bent-over women in front of them, and women feel more comfortable not having men behind them.  Really?!  I think this deserves some of your comments!!

The huge dome reaches a height of 141 feet and a diameter of 110 feet and is modeled after the one in Hagia Sophia.  Hagia Sophia was the first building to use pillars to support a giant central dome.  This same fundamentals are still used today in many mosques.

Another entry for you structural engineering types:  Near the corners of this vast room, Cindy is standing by the giant pillar paved with fluted marble panels.  These "elephant feet" support the arches, dome, semi-domes, and cupolas. Since the weight is transferred mainly to these 4 pillars, thick, bulky walls are not needed.  Like the flying buttresses on the Notre Dame, this technique allows the walls to have more windows.  This was an improvement over the gloomy interior of the Hagia Sophia.  

Hippodrome

Stepping outside of the Mosques exterior gate, we entered a long, skinny square that was the site of the ancient Hippodrome of Constantinople.  Built in the 4th century, the Hippodrome was Constantinople's primary venue for chariot races.  It became the place where the people of the city gathered, and it has also been the scene of social and religious disputes, political clashes and violent uprisings.  In Byzantine glory days, the Hippodrome was decorated with monuments from all over the world.

Egyptian Obelisk

 Ben is standing near this ancient, pointy pillar that was carved about 1,500 years BEFORE the birth of Christ!  It was carved to honor the Egyptian Pharaoh Thutmose III.  It's inscribed hieroglyphs commemorate his military achievements.  

Column of Constantine

Like the Egyptian Obelisk, this column went up in the 4th century.  But unlike its Egyptian sister, it was constructed here.  In the early 10th century, Emperor Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus sheeted the column with bronze panels.  But as the city was looted during the 4th Crusade, the panels were pulled down to make weapons.  It has remained this plain column you see Cindy standing by since.  

Column of the Serpent

This unimpressive structure was a victory monument dedicated to the gods by 31 Greek city states to commemorate their victory against the Persians at Plataea in 479 BC.  It stood at the Temple of Apollo in Delphi for 800 years until it was brought to Constantinople in the 4th century.  We saw a miniature of what this originally looked like in the Arts Museum.  It showed 3 serpents twisted together, their heads supporting a golden trophy.  The original gold trophy was gone before Constantine had possession of it, but the snake heads disappeared only 300 years ago.  

Ibrahim Pasa Palace

This is what remains of the palace that was a gift from Suleyman the Magnificent to Ibrahim Pasa in 1520.  Through the years, the palace has been used as a palace school, a dormitory for single soldiers and a prison.  In 1983, it was restored and became the home of the Turkish and Islamic Arts Museum, which we will visit another time.  

German Fountain

This fountain was a gift from the German government to commemorate Kaiser Wilhelm II's visit to Istanbul in 1898.  It was constructed in pieces in Germany, then shipped to Istanbul in 1901 and reassembled on this location.  Kaiser Wilhelm II visited Istanbul 3 times to schmooze the sultan.  He wanted the Ottoman Empire on his side when war was eminent in Europe.  It worked, when war erupted in 1914, the Ottoman and Germans were allies.  Less than 4 years later, the Ottomans lost the war and with it, what remained of their ailing empire.  The last sultan was sent into exile with the establishment of the Turkish Republic in the 1920's.  

We wandered west of the Blue Mosque and the Hippodrome to find dinner and came across this beautiful sunset over the Sea of Marmara.  You can see many ships just sitting out in the sea.  It was just beautiful.  More pictures will be on the Blue Mosque Album.

Some colorful bags that would make great gifts!  Anyone interested?

An OLD grave yard at the entrance to a small bazaar.  Cindy bought a gray pashmina here.

The courtyard to Daruzziyafe.  This would be wonderful to eat at in the summer, but it was in the 30's tonight, so we ate inside.  This restaurant is near the main entrance of the Mosque of Suleyman the Magnificent, which we will visit later.  It was once the mosque's soup kitchen.  

 Here is Cindy warming up with some Turkish Tea.  Today, this soup kitchen is a traditional restaurant well-reguarded for its Ottoman-Turkish cuisine.

Ben had 3 fried meatballs, mashed potatoes, rice pilaf, tomato and mild green pepper.  The drink is called serbet and is boiled fruit juice with added sugar, the fruit depends on the season.  We think it was pomegranate.  This is the drink of Sultan, since they didn't drink water.  The waiter just gave it to us...and it was good!

Cindy had a chicken dish with mushrooms, peppers and onions, potatoes, rice and tomatoes.  They are heavy on the starches.  There was only 2 other tables occupied when we arrived, but during our meal an English speaking tour group of about 35 people came.  We were given one of their desserts too!  Baklava, yum!

It was a dark, cold walk back to the tram. We then caught the tram down to the ferries.  We missed the last ferry on the Old Town side and had to walk across the Galata Bridge and caught the late ferry from the New District side back to our Asian side.  It was a Sunday night, so right to the hotel and to bed.