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SULTANAHMET
(BLUE) MOSQUE
Facing St.
Sophia stands the supremely elegant, six-minaret, imperial Sultan Ahmet Mosque. Built
between 1609 and 1616 by the architect Mehmet, the bulding is more familiarly known as the
Blue Mosque necause its interior gleams with a magnificent paneiring of blue and white
Iznik tiles. During the tourist season an evening light and sound show both entertains and
informs.
The cascading domes and four slender minarets of Suleymaniye
Mosque dominate the skyline on the Golden Horn's west bank. Considered the most beautiful
of all imperial mosques in istanbul, it was built between 1550 and 1557 by Sinan, the
renowned architect of the Ottoman golden age. On the crest of a hill, the building is
conspicuous for its great size, wh1ch the four minarets that rise from each corner of the
courtyard emphasize. Inside, the mihrab (prayer niche) and the mimber (pulpit) are of
finely carved white marble; fine stained glass windows color the incoming streams of
light. It was in the gardens of this complex that Suleyman and his wife Hurrem Surtan had
their mausolea built. and near here also that Sinan built his own tomb.the mosque complex
also includes four medrese, or theoiogical schools, a school of medicine, a caravanserai,
a Turkish bath, and a kitchen and hospice for the poor.
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