The Sultan Ahmed Mosque is, due to the beautiful proliferation of blue tiles in its interior, informally known as the Blue Mosque. Built in Istanbul in the early 1600s, it contains the tomb of its founder, Sultan Ahmed I, and continues to be an active Islamic mosque for the faithful.
The mosque was constructed on sacred ground, the original foundations of the Byzantine Grand Palace. Classical Ottoman architecture offers six towering minarets and eight smaller domes that emphasize and complement the massive main dome, standing 141 feet tall. As impressive as the mosque is during daylight hours, it is even more so after dark when floodlights illuminate the entire mosque. Inside this historic mosque, hundreds of stained glass windows let in sunlight that highlights more than 20,000 ceramic tiles, ample calligraphy, and other artwork adorning the interior.
This is one of the most popular tourist attractions in Istanbul, so it is frequently very crowded. In addition, since this is an active mosque, there are set prayer times, during which tourists and non-worshiping visitors are not permitted entry. For religious reasons it is closed to tourism every Friday until 2:30 p.m. and on a daily basis for 45 minutes before and for 30 minutes following the call to prayer times. They occur at about 3:30 a.m.; 5:40 a.m.; 1:12 p.m.; 5:07 p.m.; 8:21 p.m.; and 10:08 p.m. Planning your visit around these prayer times is wise.
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