Blue Mosque Exterior

Sultan Ahmed Mosque

Is The Blue Mosque Blue?

The mosque is one of the defining features of Istanbul’s skyline and a World Heritage Site.  It is better known as the Blue Mosque but is it really blue?  The exterior looks more grey than blue.  The interior does not look blue at all. This is not the Green Mosque in Bursa!  Perhaps we tourists should just call it by its proper name, Sultan Ahmed Mosque or Sultan Ahmet Cami in Turkish.

It was built at the beginning of a long period of gradual decline of the Ottoman Empire.  At the start of the teenage Sultan's reign, both Austria and Persia had scored victories over the Ottomans.  The Persians in 1603 reclaimed Tabriz (Persia) and the Caucasus states of Georgia and Azerbaijan.  A 1606 treaty ended Austria's annual tribute-paying status and recognized them as a sovereign state (Hapsburg Dynasty).  There was no war booty in 1609 to finance such an extravagant building.  So why was such a grandiose mosque built?  One possible explanation was that the mosque was built to deflect criticism; in other words, it was a propaganda campaign and statement of power.  

Sultan Ahmed Mosque

Sultan Ahmed I came to throne at the age of 13: his mother was Greek BTW.  He broke with the 200-year-old Ottoman tradition of fratricide – yes, all brothers were usually killed to prevent them from claiming the throne.  The tourist district where many of us live and visit is named for this sultan.  However, he wanted to leave something permanent behind so he would be remembered. He wanted to build a mosque that would be more magnificent than any previous one. 

Ahmed was directly involved in the design of the mosque.  Even in those days, it paid to get along with the boss.  Unfortunately for the first architect, he was executed by Ahmed.  The mosque was completed in 1616, just one year before Ahmed himself died of typhus at a mere 27 years old! 

The mosque was designed by architect number 2, Mehmed Ağa, a student of Sinan, the great Ottoman architect of Süleymaniye Mosque Dome-ination fame.  Mehmed Ağa also died in 1617, a year after the mosque was completed.

   


Hagia Sophia ... so close

Mehmed Ağa didn't strive for overwhelming size, majesty and splendour.  He designed the mosque to meet the expectations of his sultan to make a monument greater than the church (even though it was now a mosque) of Hagia Sophia, which interestingly is just on the other side of the Hippodrome.

  



Cascading Domes



The mosque was deliberately built on the site of the palace of the Byzantine emperors. This was controversial since it meant destroying the existing palaces of the Sultan's ministers.


For the spectacular sunlit view of the east or Hippodrome side come in the morning.  The Sultan Ahmed Mosque surely wins over Hagia Sophia for its exterior with cascading waterfall of domes contrasted by six pointed minarets.   

 

Blue Mosque Minarets

  

Ahmed's Minarets

Each of these “pencil” minarets has three balconies, like rings around each finger.  Imagine the old days when the muezzin had to climb a narrow spiral staircase five times a day to announce the call to prayer.
   
Most mosques have one or two minarets.  Mosques built by sultans usually have four minarets.  But Sultan Ahmed Mosque has six minarets.

     

Some travel tales say that when the number of minarets was revealed, the Sultan was criticized for trying to match the number of minarets in Mecca and that Ahmed ordered a seventh minaret to be built in Mecca. 

 

But evidence to support this claim is pencil thin since at that time there were only four minarets at the magnificent mosque of the Ka’aba in Mecca.  It was long after Sultan Ahmed died that the holiest mosque of Islam was rebuilt.  In 1629, three more minarets were added so that the Ka’aba was surrounded by 7 minarets.

  

Ahmed's Garden

If like us, you find that the interior is closed for one of the daily prayers, you could be waiting a long time.  In this case, look around the outside as well as down the streets to see the south and west facades.

 

The court is about as large as the mosque itself and has manicured gardens with - what else - tulips.

 

Ahmed's Arcades

 

The mosque is surrounded by a continuous vaulted arcade.  Below the arcade are water taps.  When the believers hear the call to prayer from the minarets, they perform their ablutions (washing) and then pray.

  

Also, you can walk down the streets to see the south and west sides of the mosque.
 



Doorway to High School

  


Because the east side was backlit, the alternative was to search out a view of the façade in the sunlight on the west side. 

     

Doorway to Heaven

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 There were interesting things to see on the way.  There was a gateway into the Sultan Ahmed Mosque and a high school at a recess break. 

East Turkestan Restaurant



Along the "painted street" we saw Turkish writing on the buildings and wondered what it meant?  Kurtulus sirasi (text in the photo) means "during the liberation".  Where is East Turkestan that needs freedom?  We didn't think it was Eastern Turkey.  East Turkestan means the homeland of the Islamic Uighur people of Xinjiang province of China.  This is supposedly a restaurant owned by an East Turkestani expat.

 

Painted Street

 

 

 

So is the Blue Mosque really blue?  You have to check out the next post to find the answer. 

 

 

 

Last Post:  Hippodrome – Off to the Races

Next Post: Is The Blue Mosque Blue?

Hippodrome Istanbul

Hippodrome

Hippodrome – Off to the Races

The Ancient Romans and Greeks are descendants of the Proto-Indo-European (aka Aryan) tribes who were a horse riding culture from the Caucasus.  The PIE invented the chariot and it was the primary war technology that enabled the PIE tribes to invade India (Vedic people), Turkey (Hittites and Lycians) and Europe (Romans, Greeks, et al).

Off to the Races

So it is not surprising that the ancients loved chariot racing.  Built in the 4th century CE, the Hippodrome was a 100,000 seat venue for chariot races and other entertainment.  The name is derived from the Greek words hippos ("horse") and dromos ("course").  I wonder what the tickets cost?  Unfortunately, nothing is left of the stands, which were mined for building materials.  All that is left is the modern road paved over the location of the oval race course, which is actually well below the current ground level.

The park before the Blue Mosque was the location of the royal lodge, where the imperial family watched the races. It was connected to their palace, which stood on the grounds of the Blue Mosque (coming to a post near you).  

 

Tripod of Plataea

Delphi, Greece

All empires pillage the art and sculpture of their conquered territories.  The Byzantines decorated the spina (spine) of their track with artifacts from around the empire.  Constantine ordered the Tripod to be moved from the Temple of Apollo at Delphi and set in middle of the Hippodrome.
 

Serpent Uprising

The Tripod of Plataea, now known as the Serpent Column, may not look like much.  It celebrates the victory of the Greeks over the Persians at the Battle of Plataea (479 BC).  One of the Persian objectives was to punish Athens for supporting the Ionians, who occupied the Turquoise Coast.  The war ended with the defeat of the Ionians in a naval battle outside Miletus (their capital) in 494 BC.  While the Persians conquered Ionia (temporarily), the war marked the last time the Persian Empire attacked mainland Greece.

What you see today is the bodies of three serpents twisted into one pillar of brass.  What you don't see are the three heads supporting a golden tripod.  What you don't know is that the bronze column was built using the bronze from the melted-down Persian weapons.

Obelisk of Thutmose III

 

1/3 of Original Obelisk!

The Obelisk of Thutmose III was originally erected at the Temple of Karnak in Luxor during the reign of Tuthmosis III in about 1490 BC.  Theodosius had the obelisk cut into three pieces and brought to Constantinople.  Today only the upper third remains! 

Racing with Theodosius

One of the most interesting things is to examine the rectangular base closely.  Bas-reliefs on the base depict Emperor Theodosius watching the races from the Royal lodge. 

How to raise an obelisk


The Hagia Sophia side depicts the raising of the obelisk using pulleys.  It's still hard to believe how they could lift such heavy red granite. 

 

Another more recent monument is the German Fountain, which will be described in a future post. 

 

Nika Riots

The New Empire

Emperor Justinian (527 - 565) expanded the empire to its greatest extent reclaiming much of the original Roman Empire.  He took back Northern Africa from the Vandals and Dalmatia, Sicily, Venice and Rome from the Ostrogoths.

Chariot teams were identified by colours blue, green, red, and white. Social/political classes would support their own chariots.  The team associations had become a focus for various social and political issues for which the general Byzantine population lacked other forms of outlet. 


To Victory -- Nike!

The Nika Revolt was named for the rebels battle cry "Nika", or victory.  This derived from the Greek goddess of victory, Nike, whom we met in Ephesus -- she is also the origin of the name of the running shoe company.

The Nika Riots were a sports riot fuelled by rivalry in the Hippodrome and opposition to the high taxes impose by Emperor Justinian!  At this same moment he was negotiating a peace treaty with Persia.

Justinian had called for races on January 13th. By the end of the day the crowd changed their chants from blue or green to Nika. For the next 5 days they assaulted the palace.  They started fires.  Some senators opposed the new legal system and the new taxes saw this as an opportunity to overthrow Justinian and declare a new emperor in the Hippodrome itself.  Justinian paid off the Blues in gold and they left in the middle of the coronation in the Hippodrome.  The imperial troops then killed the remaining Greens.  In the end 30,000 rioters were killed.  So that rivals any soccer/football hooliganism of today!

Hagia Sophia v3.0

Half of the city as well as Hagia Sophia version 2.0 was burnt down during the Nika riots.  Justinian then built the current version 3.0 of Hagia Sophia with the largest dome raised since the Pantheon in Rome.

 

 

Vitale Byzantine Mosaics

He built the Byzantine mosaic masterpiece of San Vitale Church in Ravenna, Italy.  He constructed several underground water supplies like the Basilica Cistern, to ensure adequate water supply in the event of a siege.

His biggest legacy might be the rewriting of Roman law, which is the basis of civil law in many modern countries.  So why did the Byzantine Empire decline?  It started with the bubonic or Justinian plague.  We who live in the present cannot appreciate the impact of huge losses of population.

Last Post:  Basilica Cistern & Superstitious Romans

  

Next Post: Blue Mosque Exterior

Basilica Cistern Istanbul

Basilica Arches

It is weird to visit a place that you have seen before.  The Basilica Cistern was used as a location for the 1963 James Bond film From Russia with Love.  As we descended the stairs, there were naves of romantically lit columns, hence a basilica. 

In fact, our word for a major church comes from the Ancient Roman architectural form; however, they used it for many different secular purposes from stock exchanges to legal courts. 

Basilica Cistern Map

The maps and signs in Turkish will call it Yerebatan Sarayı or “Sunken Palace”.  It was never a palace but it was the site of a Roman basilica used for commercial and legal purposes.  The cistern is located 290 m east of the Sultanahmet tram stop and just on the other side of Divan Yolu Caddesi (the tram street) from Hagia Sophia.  Unfortunately, the Basilica Cistern (open 09:00 to 18:30 hrs, TRY 10) is not included in the Istanbul Museum Card, which is not recommended.  

  

Golden Milestone

   

Milion Milestone

The Milliarium Aureum (Golden Milestone) in the Roman Forum marked the centre point for the Roman Empire.  It is from here that all distances were measured and it was the basis for the expression “all roads lead to Rome”.  

In a pit on the north side of Divan Yolu is a non-descript, single stele.  Most tourists just pass it by.  It does not look very impressive.  Like the name of the city (Nova Roma), Constantine based the Milion on the Golden Milestone in Rome.  It marked the centre point for the new Roman Empire (it was only called Byzantine Empire in the 16^th century). 

Afrodisias Tetrapylon

But all roads really did lead to Nova Roma, i.e. Constantinople, because it was the financial capital of the Roman Empire; it was the terminus of the Silk Routes, both by land and by sea.  Now imagine that the Milion was a double triumphal arch surmounted by a dome.  You have to visit Afrodisias to see what a tetrapylon (four arches) looks like.  Now image the arches on the right in Istanbul supporting a dome and that it had survived until the 15^th century.  

Basilica Cistern Purpose

Ottoman Dress-Up

The Basilica Cistern is a Byzantine underground water reservoir built in the 6th century during the reign of Byzantine Emperor Justinian I.  Several kilometres north of here you can still see a small portion of the Valens Aqueduct that carried water to here.  The cistern provided water for the Great Palace of Constantinople and other buildings on the First Hill (of the Seven Hills of Constantinople).  It provided water to the Topkapi Palace after the Ottoman conquest in 1453.  After descending the stairs there is a small shop. One concession provides colourful Ottoman costumes you can put and have your picture taken. 
 

Basilica Columns

Basilica Cistern Columns

The dimly lit cavern is a cathedral of 336 columns, arranged in 12 rows of 28 evenly spaced marble columns. The capitals of the columns towering above you have diverse styles, which suggest that these columns came from other buildings. 

     
     

Ionic Columns Holding Up a Mountain

The Greek Ionic style actually originated in Turkey.  What?  As discussed in How is Priene connected to Architecture?, the Greek League of Ionia was located on the Turquoise Coast between Priene and Didyma. 

   

Drowning Medusa

There are very few paths through the cistern maze but make sure you visit the furthest northwest point from the entry stairs.  The bases of two columns reuse blocks that already had images of Medusa.  She thought she was the most beautiful woman in the world and was constantly looking at her reflection.

 

Unfortunately, on her visit to the Parthenon, Medusa said she was more beautiful than the statue of Athena, the goddess of beauty and wisdom. 



Don't Look at Medusa

Athena suddenly appeared and turned Medusa's hair into a nest of snakes, made her face ugly, and empowered her eyes to turn anyone who looked at her to stone.  For the same reason, Medusa could no longer look on her face in a mirror!  A famous statue by Cellini in Florence depicts Perseus after he cut off Medusa's head with his sword.   

 

It is hard to believe that Medusa's gaze could turn you into stone but the Ancients were a very superstitious lot.  Our expression “getting up the wrong side of the bed” originates in Ancient Rome when it was considered bad luck to get up on the left side of the bed!  The Latin word for left is sinistra, the origin of our word sinister!  It is no wonder that left-handed people were deemed evil.  

  

Alexander GR8 & Medusa

So they placed the Medusa images sideways or upside down thinking that this would neutralize the power of the Gorgon's gaze. Didn't they realize that this would not affect the magic of Medusa? 

 

The symbolism of Medusa was used throughout society.  In this photo taken in Napoli (Naples), we see Alexander the Great wearing an image of Medusa on his breast armour. 

From Gloom to Bloom



Sultanahmet Tulips

Well from gloom we went to bloom. The Basilica Cistern did not take long so we went around the Sultanahmet Park and the Hippodrome (coming to a post near you) to take photos in the sunshine.  

    

It finally turned warmer today.  The tulips were in full bloom.   The word tulip is derived from the Persian word ‘tulipan’ which means turban.  Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent introduced the Central Asian tulip to Europeans.  It is a symbol of life and fertility and is a popular motif on pottery and tiles. 

Sultanahmet School Kids

Sultanahmet Park is a great place for people watching - there is a mixture of locals and tourists. 

It is also a great place for views of historic Hagia Sophia.

 

 

Hagia Sophia

This is the third church on this site.  While there have been many earthquakes that have damaged the building, the first two churches were destroyed by rebellions during the Byzantine era, which will be discussed in the Hippodrome post.

 

Hagia Sophia

The current Hagia Sophia was the world's largest cathedral with the largest dome built since the Pantheon in Rome and until the dome erected by Brunelleschi at the beginning of the Renaissance to complete the Duomo in Florence, Italy.

After 1453 the Ottomans quickly transformed the city from a bastion of Christianity to a symbol of Islamic culture.  So the Church of Hagia Sophia was converted into a mosque complete with minarets. 

However, the Greek influence in Turkish history is palpable. Constantinople was originally simply called Istimbolin by the Greek residents meaning “(in) The City”, which was in turn was derived from the Greek word polis (city).  Today the name has changed back to Istimbolin, now spelled Istanbul. 

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