Lonely Planet İstanbul Guide
10 İstanbul’s Top 10 Blue Mosque
The city’s signature building was the grand project of Sultan Ahmet I, who urged its architect and builders on in the construction process before his untimely death in 1617, aged only 27. The mosque’s wonderfully curvaceous exterior features a cascade of domes and six tapering minarets. Inside, the huge space is encrusted with thousands of the blue İznik tiles that give the building its unofficial but commonly used name. Beloved by tourists and locals alike, it and Aya Sofya bookend Sultanahmet Park in a truly extraordinary fashion.
JESSE DUROCHER/GETTY IMAGES ©
Made with FlippingBook Online newsletter creator