SULTAN AHMED MOSQUE

Turkey is famous for its historical and archeological mosques, as there is in it many famous mosques with a long history, it is not possible to visit Turkey without wandering in its mosques and taking memorial photos.

One of the most important mosques in Turkey is the Sultan Ahmed Mosque or  the Blue Mosque in Istanbul, and it is one of the most famous and important landmarks of the historic old city of Istanbul. The Sultan Ahmed Mosque is located in the city of Istanbul in the Sultanahmet region near the Aya Sophia, that region which contains many monuments where you feel when you wander around  it like you are in open museums, It takes you on a journey through history where you get to know ancient civilizations and countries having the traces of empires that combined a civilization with history, thus becoming a center for the convergence of cultures and religions.

 The Sultan Ahmed Mosque is considered a destination for many tourists of different religions and ethnicities and has been named the Blue Mosque in relation to the decorated blue tiles that decorate its walls.

The Sultan Ahmed Mosque was built at the request of Sultan Ahmed I, who received the ruling after the death of the Ottoman Sultan Mehmed III, and was built by the engineer Muhammed Al-Fateh, the pupil of the famous architect Sinan Pasha, and it was built one year before the death of Sultan Ahmed who was buried there.

Sultan Ahmed ordered to build it in order to imitate his predecessors, but he built it from the state treasury, and not as did his predecessors from the sultans who built mosques from the spoils of war, and he wanted him to be the greatest and largest and most beautiful in all countries, so it was built on the Marmara Sea overlooking the Bosphorus Strait and opposite For the Church of Aya Sophia which turned into a mosque, Sultan Ahmed carried out the first blow of an ax in building the mosque, which distinguished him and expressed his being the first mosque in his country.

The mosque consists of a prayer hall, a tomb for Sultan Ahmed, a school for religious education, a market and a hospital in addition to a Turkish bath and a restaurant for the poor surrounded by a high wall that encircles it on three sides and has five doors, three of which led to the courtyard of the mosque and two to the prayer hall  in addition to a wonderful garden with shady trees and colorful flowers.

The mosque is composed of six minarets, four of which are placed on the corners of the mosque, and the other two are humble at the end of its courtyard. At that time, Sultan Ahmed added the seventh minaret of the Sacred Mosque in order to distinguish it from others.    , And the front facade of the mosque was built like the Sulaymaniyah Mosque, as it is surrounded by a porch topped by small domes, there is a place for ablution and in addition to a small fountain in the middle of it. As for the western part of the entrance, there is a heavy iron chain and the place was dedicated to entering the sultan with his horse.                                                                                                                                     

As for the interior, the walls of the mosque cover handmade ceramic tiles with a different design for the lily flowers that were brought from the port of Iznik (today's Niche ) and it is placed in the upper parts of the mosque, which are controlled by the blue color, which made it known as the blue mosque, while the prayer hall is rectangular in the middle with a large dome centered on Four pillars carved with decoration with skillful skill and illuminate the interior of the mosque with more than 250 colored glass windows that allow light to enter in addition to gold-plated chandeliers, gemstones, crystal balls, lamps covered with gold and precious stones.

The decorations in the mosque include decorated verses from the Holy Qur’an written by calligrapher Sayyid Qasim Abari, the floor furnished with luxurious carpets that are donated by the faithful.

As for the minbar, it is gold decorated with high elegance, and the mihrab is made of marble. There are also many copies of the Qur’an placed on golden Quran carriers.

Regardless of the fact that the mosque is an important tourist destination, it is crowded with worshipers during the five daily prayers.