THE BLUE MOSQUE

Istanbul, Turkey

A little more than a football field away from the Hagia Sophia is a second grand Mosque, formally named Sultanahmet Camii. The two buildings are similar in that they are organized under a great dome, with lesser domes surrounding. Hagia Sophia is larger than the Blue Mosque, who’s central dome is 75 feet in diameter and 141 feet high; Hagia Sophia is 102 feet in diameter and 182 feet high. The Blue Mosque in much more orderly and symmetric than Hagia Sophia, having learned through a thousand years of technology how to design and build better. Normally, Mosques have four minarets, but The Blue Mosque has six. When first built, there was an uproar as the Mosque of Mecca also had six minarets. Later, and to placate devotees the Mecca mosque, a seventh minaret was added there to differentiate that holy site.

When entering the Blue Mosque you immediately understand its name: more than 20,000 blue tiles adorn the dome and the upper part of the mosque. The tiles were shipped from İznik, a town 60 miles from the Mosque. The illumination of the mosque comes from more than 200 stained glass windows, and the chandeliers that hang from the ceiling. While there, prayers were going on. One must remove their shoes to enter the mosque. The floors are carpeted. A sense of solemn respect prevails.