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ALL TURKEY TOURS |
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INFORMATION |
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Sultanahmet Mosque;
Built by Sultan Ahmet I as a part of a large complex, among the Turkish
people it is called Sultan Ahmet Mosque. However, tourists
fascinated with the beautiful blue tiles always remember it
as the Blue Mosque. The complex consisted of a mosque,
tombs, medreses, fountains, a health center, kitchens,
shops, bath, rooms, houses and storehouses.
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19-year-old Sultan started digging a ceremoniously in the
presence of high officials until he was tired. Thus began
the construction in 1609 which continued until it was
finished in 1616. An interesting fact about Sultan Ahmet is
that he ascended to the throne at the age of 14 as the 14th
ruler and died only 14 years later. Being close to the
Topkapi Palace, Sultan Ahmet Mosque was regarded as the
Supreme Imperial Mosque in Istanbul. Even though the palace
was left and the sultan moved to the Dolmabahce Palace,
Sultan Ahmet Mosque shared this pride with the Suleymaniye
Mosque.
The architect was one of the apprentices of Sinan, Sedefkar
Mehmet Aga. He designed one of the last examples of the
classical period's architectural style.
The mosque is situated in a wide courtyard which has five
gates. There is an inner courtyard next to the mosque with
three entrances. The inner courtyard is surrounded by
porticos consisting of 26 columns and 30 domes. The sadirvan
in the middle is symbolic, because the actual ones are
outside on the walls of the inner courtyard. There are three
entrances to the main building, one from the inner courtyard
and two from both sides of the building. There are four
minarets at the corners of the mosque having three serefes
each. The two minarets at the far corners of the courtyard
have two serefes each. There are six minarets in all, each
of which is fluted.
The interior of the mosque is a square with a width of 51.65
m / 170 ft and a length of 53.40 m / 175 ft covered by a
dome. The main dome rests on four semi-arches and four
pendentives. The diameter of the dome is 22.40 m / 73.5 ft
and the height is 43 m / 141 ft. The four piers carrying the
dome are called elephant legs as each has a diameter of 5 m
/ 16.4 ft.
There are 260 windows which do not have original stained
glasses any longer. The walls all along the galleries are
covered with 21 thousand 17C Iznik tiles having many flower
motifs in a dominant blue color.
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