I had always heard of this place that it is a must visit if you are in Istanbul, so during my stay in Istanbul I had made it a a point to include it in my itinerary. When I visited I felt that it really stands up to the reputation that it has built up with the tourist. The place is huge. I had never seen such a huge mosque before. He in Oman we do have some of the most beautiful mosque, like the grand mosque but they are all recently built in the last 2 to 3 decades and they do not hold any historical reference. Whereas the Mosques of Turkey go back in time some centuries behind and all of them have some story to it.
The Blue Mosque was built in the 17th century by the empire Sultan Ahmet. The original name of the mosque is Sultan Ahmed Mosque. The dome of the mosque is covered with all blue colored tiles and because of it's blue appearance, a nick name of Blue Mosque was given to it.
Normally a Mosque has 4 minarets, some have 5 and very rarely there are 6. This one has 6 minarets. A minaret is the tall towers that are around the mosque. There is one legend behind the story of 6 minarets. It is said that the Sultan asked the architect to make altın minare which means minarets in gold but the architect heard it as altı minare which means six minarets and then the rest is history.
That's the mosque from inside. You need to cover your head inside the mosque and have appropriate clothing, female in shorts and sleeveless are not allowed. If you are wearing it for the day then it is not an issue, you can buy a long shrug from outside which is available and cover yourself and get inside the mosque.
The domes and walls have very intricate designs majorly all floral patterns.
It is truly a beauty. The prayer area is separate where visitors are not allowed to enter.
I enjoyed watching the domes structure weaving in to each other and the fine designs made on it.
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