Blue Mosque

The guide Jere from Nestravel

arrived to the hotel 10am

for a private sightseeing tour by foot

in Sultanahmet

.

First stop: Blue Mosque

Sultan Ahmet Camii

.

Entrance from the Hippodrome

.

Sultan Ahmet 1 commissioned the mosque

during a period of declining Ottoman fortunes,

and it was built between 1609-16

by Mehmet Aga, the imperial architect

.

The splendour of the plans

provoked great hostility at the time,

especially because a mosque with 6 minarets

was considered a sacrilegious attempt

to rival the architecture of Mecca itself
.

The courtyard covers the same area as the prayer hall,

balancing the whole buildig

.

Each minaret has 2 or 3 balconies
.
The Muslim's ritual ablutions conclude
with the washing of the feet
- the taps outside the mosque are used
by faithful for this purpose
- as a tourist its not necessary to wash your feet,
but everyone must take off the shoes,
put them into a plastic bag which is given
and carry them
- inside the mosque,
you can smell the odour of feet...
.
The blue mosque takes its name from

the mainly blue Iznik tilework

decorting its interior
.

Beautiful thicj carpet inside the whole mosque
.
Mesmeric designs,
employing floiwing arabesques,
are painted onto the interior of
the mosque's domes and semidomes
.
Over 250 windows allow light to flood into the mosque
.
A pilgrim dressed in white
.
Beautiful, impressive building!
.