Blue Mosque

The Sultan Ahmed Mosque — universally called the Blue Mosque in English because of the approximately 200,000 hand-made İznik tiles that line its interior — is the only Ottoman mosque in Turkey with six minarets, a detail that caused controversy at its completion in 1617 and has generated the same origin story ever since: that the sultan gave permission for six minarets, that this was an unusual number at the time (the convention being one minaret per dome or courtyard), and that the Sultan was so pleased with the design that he kept all six. The story may or may not be literally true, but the six minarets give the mosque an exterior silhouette unlike any other Ottoman building, and they are visible from the Bosphorus, from the Sea of Marmara and from much of the old city.

Inside, the effect of the blue tiles is genuinely unexpected after the mosque's relatively modest exterior. The tiles cover every surface of the lower-level walls in geometric patterns, floral designs and calligraphic panels, all produced in shades of blue and turquoise by the famous İznik tile workshops that had reached their technical peak in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. The tile program is not uniformly distributed — the surfaces nearest the windows are most densely tiled, while the areas above eye level have less elaborate decoration — but the overall effect is of a space that feels completely enclosed by colour and pattern.

The 28 windows that illuminate the prayer hall admit light through stained glass in geometric Islamic patterns, many of them original 17th-century pieces. During the day the coloured light through the stained glass casts coloured shadows onto the tile-covered walls below, adding a second layer of colour and pattern that changes with the position of the sun. The carpet is replaced periodically and is always in a deep red that sets off the blue tiles without competing with them. The main dome is 43 metres high with a diameter of 23.5 metres, smaller than Hagia Sophia's dome but elevated on a drum that gives it greater apparent height from outside.

The mosque is still a functioning place of worship, and visitors are asked to observe modest dress and to be quiet during the five daily prayer times. During prayer the mosque fills with worshippers in a continuity of practice that has persisted, with interruptions, since the building was completed in 1617. The surrounding complex — a madrasa, the sultan's tomb, the former Hippodrome now known as Sultan Ahmet Square — makes the area one of the densest concentrations of significant monuments in Istanbul. The Egyptian obelisk in the square, carried from the Temple of Karnak in Luxor and erected in 1450 BC, means that monuments from 32 centuries ago sit within a hundred metres of the Blue Mosque.

The six minarets each have 18,000 hand-made tiles and their lead caps catch the morning light with a particular brilliance visible from the Hippodrome below. The minaret balconies are not open to visitors. The surrounding Sultan Ahmed Mosque complex makes the area — with the Blue Mosque, the Hagia Sophia, the Basilica Cistern, the Egyptian Obelisk, the Serpentine Column and the Constantine Column — one of the most monument-dense squares anywhere in the world.

The interior tile program of approximately 200,000 hand-made İznik tiles represents the peak of Ottoman decorative arts and the finest surviving example of İznik tilework at architectural scale.

The six minarets are structurally and visually unique among Ottoman mosques and create an exterior silhouette that is one of the most recognisable in Istanbul.

The mosque occupies a historic square that contains monuments spanning 32 centuries of human civilisation.