The Blue Mosque - history and interesting facts

It is easy to name monuments of architecture that have glorified the whole world to Istanbul: the Blue Mosque, Hagia Sophia, the Sultan's Palace Top Kapi. But the mosque has a special history, and, incidentally, another official name: Ahmediye. It was built for political reasons by the young ruler Ahmed I, and she was named in his honor. At the beginning of the 17th century Turkey's position in the political arena was greatly shaken. To emphasize the imperial scope, the ruler of the Great Porte decided to begin the grand construction of the temple.

Where the Byzantine emperors palace once stood, a new holy mosque was to appear - the Blue Mosque. Istanbul of that time already had one of the greatest temples - Ayu-Sophia, converted to the Muslim style of the Christian Cathedral of St. Sophia of Constantinople. However, the ambitious young sultan decided to build the temple of God from the very beginning according to all the canons of Islam. Leading the construction was appointed skilful architect Sedefkar Mehmed-Aga.

The architect was faced with a difficult task: the Blue Mosque had to rise directly opposite Aya Sophia, not to compete with it, but not to complement it. The master left the situation with dignity. Two temples vaguely create a single architectural ensemble due to the fact that the domes of Ahmediye form the same cascade as in St. Sophia. Just subtly and unobtrusively the architect inherits the Byzantine style, skillfully diluting it with the Ottoman, only slightly deviating from the classical Islamic canons. To the interior decoration of the huge building did not look gloomy and dark, the architect solved the lighting problem by planning 260 windows, the glasses for which were ordered in Venice.

Since Sultan Ahmed ordered something special for the glorification of Allah, the Blue Mosque was decorated not with four minarets - in the corners of a square fence, but with six. This led to a slight embarrassment in the Muslim world: before that, only one temple had five minarets - the main mosque in Mecca. Therefore, the mullahs saw in six annexes to the temple a manifestation of Sultan's arrogance and even an attempt to humiliate the significance of the sacred for all Muslims of Mecca. Ahmed I hid the scandal, sponsoring the construction of additional minarets to the shrine in Mecca. Thus, there were seven of them, and the subordination was not violated.

The Blue Mosque has one more unusual feature: a niche for prayers was carved from a single piece of marble. Since the temple was built as Sultan, a separate entrance for the ruler was provided. He came here on horseback, but before the entrance to the gate the chain was stretched, and to pass, the sultan willy-nilly had to bend over. Thus, the insignificance of a person, even invested with supreme authority, was demonstrated in the face of Allah. The temple was surrounded by numerous extensions: a madrasah (secondary school and seminary), a caravan-shed, a hospital for the poor, a kitchen. In the middle of the courtyard there is a fountain for ritual ablutions.

The Blue Mosque is called so because of the large number of blue tiles that decorate the interior of the temple. The young sultan, who began construction in 1609, when he was only 18 years old, could only take a year to rejoice at the finished work of his own: construction was completed in 1616, and in 1617 the 26-year-old Ahmed died of typhus. His mausoleum is located under the walls of "Ahmediye", which the people persistently call the Blue Mosque.