The historical peninsula of Istanbul which attracts the attention of both local and foreign tourists, welcomes many guests every year. The orientalist and historical structures on the historical peninsula are quite remarkable. How about a nice Istanbul historical peninsula tour by looking at rent a car Istanbul opportunities? We visited the Blue Mosque on this peninsula within the scope of places to visit in Istanbul, and the History of the Blue Mosque / Where is the Blue Mosque? We prepared the travel article for you. Enjoy the trip!
Where is the Blue Mosque?
Blue Mosque address: Sultanahmet, Atmeydani Cd. No: 7, 34122 Fatih. The mosque is located on Sultanahmet Square, which it gave its name. Especially if you are coming from the Anatolian side, you can easily and comfortably reach here by renting a car in İstanbul.
History of Blue Mosque
Blue Mosque was built by Sultan Ahmet the 1st, the 14th Ottoman sultan. Sultan Ahmet, who reigned between 1603-1616, had the Blue Mosque built by Sedefkâr Mehmet Ağa, the chief architect of the period. The construction process of the mosque started in 1609 and was completed in 1617. On the first day of the mosque’s construction, Sultan Ahmet himself worked with a shovel and carried stones. One of the most important features that distinguish this mosque from other buildings in the 17th century is that it was built with the funds allocated from the state treasury. In addition to this, Turkey’s 6 minarets have the distinction of being the first mosque. It is also one of the largest building complexes in Istanbul.
Blue Mosque Features
In the 17th century, Architect Mehmet Ağa had created a new style with the Blue Mosque. He designed the mosque with its size, majesty and magnificence. The mosque has a very large courtyard. The mosque was already built by raising the floor from the outer courtyard. The mosque is centrally designed and carries traces of traditional Ottoman architecture. The Blue Mosque, with its 6 minarets, is a very different building from its period. The big dome inside the Blue Mosque is carried by columns similar to the four big elephant legs.
The width of these elephant feet is 5 meters. The central dome is 43 meters high and 23.5 meters wide from the ground. The central dome is surrounded by 4 half domes and has gained further width to the sides. Three more half-domes were added next to these half domes in the Blue Mosque, allowing Mimar Sinan to have a larger area than the Şehzadeler Mosque. The dome is known as the Blue Mosque as it is adorned with blue colored pencil engravings. With the transformation of Hagia Sophia into a museum in the 20th century, the Blue Mosque gained the characteristic of being the main mosque in Istanbul. The Blue Mosque complex attracts as much attention as the mosque itself. Inside the complex, there is a mosque, fountain, madrasah, sultanate palace, tombs, shops, Turkish baths.
One of the most remarkable architectural and artistic aspects of the building is its decoration with 20 thousand Iznik Tiles. These tiles have traditional yellow and blue plant motifs. These tiles strengthened the artistic aspect of the mosque. At the same time, there are 200 colored glasses inside the mosque. Again, calligraphy writings are included in the structure.
Places to Visit in Sultanahmet Square
Sultanahmet is one of the most important squares in Istanbul. Therefore, we recommend you to visit the buildings around the square while visiting the ready mosque. Sultanahmet square was known as the Hippodrome during the Byzantine period. It lost its Hippodrome feature as a result of the invasion of the Latin in 1204. The square, which remained in ruins for a while, started to operate again slowly during the Ottoman period. Historical buildings were built on the square. Today, the places that can be visited in the area which is flooded by local and foreign tourists:
- Istanbul Archeology Museum
- Gülhane Park
- Haseki Turkish Bath
- Yılanlı Column
- Aya Irini Museum
- Alman Fountain
- Yerebatan Cistern
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