SULTANAHMET MOSQUE



It was commissioned by Sultan Ahmet the 1st on the square with the same name in Istanbul between 1609 and 1616. Its architect is Sedefkar Mehmet Ağa. It's the only mosque in Turkey with six minarets. The mosque part has dimension of 64x72. The diameter of its central dome has a diameter of 33.4 m and a height of 43 m and is 2.6 m greater than that of St. Sophia. The interior of the mosque is illuminated by 260 windows. Since it is beautifully adorned by blue, green and white encaustics, it was named by the Europeans as "Blue Mosque". The inscriptions are made by Seyyid Kasım Gubari of Diyarbakır. It makes up a complex with the surrounding buildings.