Although I had walked into the courtyard of the Blue Mosque when I visited in October on our cruise, I hadn't been inside. This was an easy add to the list because not only was it something I wanted to see, but I I knew I'd be returning in December on my Turkey tour with Patina. So 14 December 2024, we found ourselves looking up at the Blue Mosque, officially the Sultan Ahmed Mosque, taking off our shoes, covering our heads and entering.
Constructed between 1609 and 1617, it remains a functioning mosque and is one of the most iconic and popular monuments in Istanbul (not Constantinople). The large central (not blue) dome is surrounded by four (also not blue) semi domes with a large courtyard with washing facilities (cleanliness is next to godliness/allahness) and six minarets. The mosque gets its name from the thousands of mainly blue tiles painted with floral motifs.
The Blue Mosque stands across from the Hagia Sophia, and was built by Sultan Ahmed to create a mosque that was bigger and better than the Hagia Sophia. Even then there was a boys "my Mosque is bigger than yours" mentality. Seriously though, we didn't got into the Hagia, where today only the top part is open as a museum. The Blue Mosque is free to enter, the Hagia €25, easy decision. This was a good reminder how expensive it is to enter all monuments in Turkey.
Definitely a worthwhile visit, it's a beautiful building. Plenty of free literature if we cared to change religions, but we passed because the pretty book wasn't available in English.
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