The Blue Mosque

called "the Blue Mosque" for the blue tiles adorning the walls of its interior, it was built in 1616 during the rule of Sultan Ahmet I to rival the neighboring Hagia Sophia in grandeur and beauty

the impressive entrance leads to the biggest courtyard of all the Ottoman mosques

as you ascend the stairs, semidomes come into view: first the one over the mosque’s main door, then the one above it, and another, and another. Finally the main dome crowns the whole, and your attention is drawn to the sides, where forests of smaller domes reinforce the effect, completed by the minarets which lift your eyes heavenward

side view with one of the minarets

side of the mosque

the courtyard is the same size as the mosque’s interior

before entering, shoes must be taken off and women who haven’t brought their own headscarf or are too scantily dressed will be loaned a headscarf and/or robe

according to one account, the Sultan directed his architect to make gold (altin) minarets which was misunderstood as six (alti) minarets

part of the continued vaulted arcade that surrounds  the courtyard

the last great mosque of the classical period