The Blue Mosque

I never want to live in Istanbul!!!  Our second day we drove into the old city to see the sights.  It took us 1 hour and 15 minutes to drive the 10 miles.  I can't count the number of times we were almost hit or side-swiped.  Luckily, we made it in one piece, with no extra marks on the car.  We were able to park at a pay lot that was across the street from our first stop - Sultan Ahmed Mosque.  It is also called the Blue Mosque because of the tiles on the inside.  While Mike and the kids were standing out in front of it, a guy approached and started asking talking with them.  It turns out his family has a rug shop (SHOCKING!) and if we come visit their shop later, he'll be our tour guide.  Mike made sure to tell he we were NOT going to be purchasing a rug, and off we went!  It was nice to have a free tour guide.  He knew exactly where we needed to go in, and as it was getting close to prayer time, we barely made it in before they closed the doors.  We all put our shoes in bags, Aubree and I covered our heads with scarves we borrowed from Kendra, and in we went.  WOW!!!  It is so beautiful inside!  The area we were able to walk around in is where the women pray.  The space in front of the railing where we weren't allowed is for the men.  I'm realizing now that I need more pictures!  The carpet has a pattern in it so everyone has a spot to pray, and they are packed tight!  There are also some galleries in the back that I missed.  Next time...
Here's the story we were told by our guide about the building of the mosque:  Sultan Ahmed wanted his mosque to be amazing, incredible, etc.  Normally, mosques have 4 minarets, because the mosque at Mecca had 6.  He told his architect he wanted "altin" minarets.  His architect heard "alti".  So, instead of getting gold minarets, he got six.  Once the mosque was finished, he had to pay to add another minaret to the mosque at Mecca. 



Nick took this picture.  We were in the courtyard where Muslim people would wash before prayers.  (I wish I would have taken a picture of the washing stations.)



Chris took this one.  We entered through this door to get into the inner courtyard.  The arch at the bottom right led to the washing stations.



This is the fountain inside that only the Sultan was allowed to use.

 

The inside of the dome - isn't it just fabulous?  That is why it is referred to as the Blue Mosque.



All the decoration on the wall is tile.



You can kind of see the pattern in the carpet here.  The box is one of 3 where an Imam sits and leads the worship service. 

 

Our family in the mosque.  It was neat for all of us to be able to go into a mosque, and explain to the children how another faith worships.  While we couldn't see them pray, we heard their call to prayer many times during the day.  While I am not publicly called to pray 5 times a day, it made me think how many times I kneel before my Heavenly Father each day.



All 6 (not gold) minarets visible.

The Haghia Sophia (or Aya Sophia) that we did not go to, but it's just across the street from the Sultan Ahmed Mosque, so I took a picture.  This WILL be visited on our next trip!

To be continued...