Your visit to Istanbul will not be complete if you do not visit one of the most beautiful mosques not only in this city but in the world. The beautiful Sultan Ahmet Mosque is one of the most visited attractions in the city once known as Constantinople. If we want to compare it with other mosques in Istanbul, this is probably one of the most famous buildings of this type.
The Sultan Ahmet Mosque was built in 1617 and is just next to the Byzantine Hippodrome, in the centre of the old town. Its construction was ordered by a very young Sultan Ahmet I, while the main architect was Sedefkar Mehmet Aga, a student of architect Sinan who was the best Turkish architect this country ever had. Around the world, this mosque is known as the Blue Mosque. Its beauty is immense because the young Sultan Ahmet wanted to make a building to surpass magnificent Hagia Sophia by the beauty, and we all know that Hagia Sophia is a church that represents one of the most beautiful gems that Istanbul has ever had.
The complex of Blue Mosque was made really luxurious. Public kitchen is an integral part of it, and its role was to serve as a place where the poor could get a meal. Theological school and imperial lodge are part of the complex too. Sultanahmet Park occupies the same space as the mosque itself, and there is a tomb of eponymous Sultan. This fascinating mosque has six minarets, and its interior is fascinating lighted due to the numerous windows, as there are around 260 of them. The mosque has a main dome and four half-domes, while its inner walls are adorned with over twenty thousand Iznik tiles.
Blue mosque will dazzle you with its beauty, so all other mosques will look less beautiful and important. However, don’t miss visiting some other mosques that marked the different periods of Turkish rule, such as Suleymaniye, then a Sehzade Mehmet Mosque, but Beyazit Mosque as well.