The Sultan Ahmed Mosque (The Blue Mosque)
The Sultan Ahmed Mosque, commonly known as the Blue Mosque because of the dominance of this color in its interior decoration, is one of the most important tourist attractions in Turkey. Its importance is due to it being a trace of the Ottoman era, its location facing Hagia Sophia and its architectural distinction that combines the Byzantine and the Islamic arts. The mosque was built between 1909 and 1916 and was completed in 1917. Its construction took a total duration of 7 years, 5 months, 6 days. It is named after Sultan Ahmed I, who ordered its construction. The mosque is still open to this day and the five daily prayers are held there.
Sultan Ahmed I
Sultan Ahmed I is the 14th Sultan and the 6th Khalifa (caliph) of Ottomans. He is also the 93rd Khalifa (caliph) of Muslims. Born in Manissa Province in 1590, as the son of Sultan Mehmed III and Sultana Khandan, he took power in 1603 (at the age of 14) and died on November 22, 1917 (at the age of 27).
At the age of 19, Sultan Ahmed decided to build a mosque bearing his name like his ancestors, so he asked to search for a suitable place and the choice was facing Hagia Sophia, where he bought the land and the houses there and ordered the architect Sedefkar Muhammad Agha to build the mosque for him. Sultan Ahmed was so dedicated to the construction of this mosque as he worked personally as a laborer.
Mimar Sedefkar Mehmet Agha
Architect Sedefkar Mehmet Ağa is one of the most famous architects in Turkey after Mimar Sinan and Daoud Agha. He came from Albania to Istanbul in 1562 and was a student of Mimar Sinan. He was appointed as the Chief Architect of the Ottoman Empire, after the death of Mimar Sinan, in the early 17th century. One of his most important works was the reparation of The Kaaba (The House of Allah) and the placement of its famous Golden Gutters.
The Exterior of the Mosque
The mosque is surrounded by a high wall on 3 sides. The wall has 5 doors; 3 of which reach the outer courtyard and 2 of which reach the prayer hall. The area of the outer courtyard of the mosque is equal to the area of the inner hall. It has an ablution area at the middle, covered with a dome based on 6 columns. There are also ablution areas at the right and left sides of the courtyard.
Sultan Ahmed Mosque is most known for its 6 minarets, 4 surrounding the dome with 3 balconies and 2 surrounding the courtyard with 2 balconies. Sultan Ahmed was subjected to a lot of criticism because of the presence of the 6 minarets, as they blamed him for imitating the Grand Mosque of Mekka, that had 6 minarets at that time. In order to solve this controversy, he built a 7th minaret in the Great Mosque of Mekka.
Prayer Hall
The prayer hall is rectangular in shape with a length of 50.53 meters and a width of 47.49 meters. The main dome at the middle has a diameter of 23.5 meters and a height of 43 meters. It rests on four huge columns called the Elephant’s Foot, each 5 meters in diameter.