Blue Mosque (Sultan Ahmet Camii) -

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The Blue Mosque (Sultan Ahmet Camii) is one of the most beautiful mosques in Istanbul. Historically, the city of Istanbul was the capital of the Ottoman Empire and several mosques were built around the city at that time. This historic building was built between 1609 and 1616 by order of Sultan Ahmed I. The Blue Mosque (Sultan Ahmet Camii) is one of the most important tourist attractions in Istanbul.

The brilliant mind that was responsible for the design of this magnificent mosque was the architect Sedefkâr Mehmet Aga. The architect chose to build the mosque on the southeastern part of the great hippodrome and the great palace. That is why this mosque is considered the last great mosque created in the classical era.

The mosque has more than 20,000 ceramic tiles inside which were created by hand. Visitors will discover that in the upper levels there are blue paintings and windows with colorful and amazing designs that contrast perfectly with the daylight. The mosque has been perfectly decorated with verses made by the most important calligrapher of the time, Seyyid Kasim Gubari.

Tourists can find a lot of amazing carpets with vibrant colors on the floor of the mosque. However, the most iconic and interesting feature of the mosque is the amazing mihrab which was crafted with pure marble. Right next to the “mihrab” (niche located in a wall that marks the right direction of Mecca), tourists can find another spectacular thing called “minber” (pulpit of the mosque) and perfectly decorated. There are several lamps around the mosque. These lamps were covered with gold and precious stones during the Ottoman Empire.

Today, during the summer evenings, visitors can enjoy the most entertaining stories during a festival held in the mosque. Fortunately, the stories are offered in several languages, including French, English, German, Russian and Turkish.