Blue Mosque

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The Prayer Hall.   Vast and serene.  Visitors are allowed into the Mosque between prayer sessions.  Appropriate clothing must be worn and shoes checked at the door.

 

I did not have a fast enough film to capture the interior of the Mosque and was surprised to see that they allowed the use of tripods.  As you can see, I did not have one with me.

 

 
The central dome is 77 feet across and 140 feet high.  It is supported by four colossal columns some 16ft in diameter. Graceful arabesques decorate the domes and semi domes.   The original 17th century stained glass windows are long gone but modern replacements are being added.  
The Mosque is named for the famous blue and white Iznik tiles which decorate the lower walls with floral designs of lilies, carnations, tulips and roses.   Folk lore would have us believe that the production of such huge quantities of tiles exhausted the potters and lead to the decline of the Iznik tile tradition.
The Blue Mosque is magnificent at any time of the  day but is serenely beautiful when floodlit at night.  The white undersides of the keening seagulls caught in the lights as they circle the minarets, is one of my most cherished memories of Istanbul.  Another is sitting in Sultanhamet Park between the Mosque and Aya Sofia and listening to the Call To Prayer.  Not just from the Blue Mosque but from several others in the neighbourhood.  Magical.
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