The Minaret and Dome Skyline

From our first day in Istanbul, we remarked on the great number of mosques which dot the skyline of every neighborhood in Istanbul. From any highway or ferry ride, one can see average neighborhood mosques with a grey dome and one or two slender, pointed minarets. One main purpose of the minarets, we learned, is for the Call to Prayer, which is sung 5 times a day to call Muslims to pray. Men used to climb to the minaret balconies, but now there are loudspeakers which fill Istanbul with overlapping Calls to Prayer 5 times a day. Wherever we are: home in bed, at school, or shopping in the Bazaar, the call to prayer is a regular feature of life here. Turkey is a secular nation, but the population is 98% Muslim.

In the old city of Istanbul on the European side, there are a number of very famous, very monumental mosques built in the height of the Ottoman Empire's splendor. One nice Saturday in August we visited three of the most famous and most impressive, right in the heart of old Stamboul.

Yeni Camii (New Mosque)

Our first mosque really blew us away. Yeni is located right next to the ferry terminal at Eminonu, and is surrounded by noise and commotion of pigeons, street vendors of all types, and the Spice Bazaar. Once you get through all that, take off your shoes, cover your head (if you are female), and step through the large door, the peace and unbelievable beauty of the mosque is truly amazing. The new mosque is not new, completed in 1663. The entire interior is tiled with intricate Iznik tiles, mainly blue and white. The light coming in the dome, the quiet, and the huge open space make even the tourists prayerful.

Suleymaniye Camii

Our second stop was the Suleymaniye Mosque, "Istanbul's most important mosque" according to the guidebooks. Suleymaniye is impressive because its built on the highest point in the old city. It was one of the masterpieces of Sinan, the greatest Ottoman architect, completed in 1557. Built for Sultan Suleyman the Magnificent, it represents the empire at its height. When we got up the hill, we were almost as impressed with the gardens and courtyard as the building itself. The mosque, like many, was built as part of a large complex called the kulliye , which included cemetaries, a hospital, Koran schools, a market, a hamam (bath), and soup kitchen.

This mosque too had huge soaring space above, and then wide open space on the ground for praying. The large circular chandelier hangs under 3 meters above the ground. Each of these mosques has many tourists, but also has young children thrilled to running in the large carpetted space, a few men touching their heads to the ground in prayer, as well as a few orthodox women covered completely in black.

Sultan Ahmet Camii (Blue Mosque)

The Blue Mosque is probably the biggest tourist attraction mosque. It is located right across an amazing set of gardens from the 1000-year-older Byzantine Ayasofya (completed in 537 AD!), right in the heart of the tourist old city. It was completed in 1616 with a huge courtyard and six tall minarets, more than any other mosque. The outside is spectacular, with the cascade of domes framed by the slender minarets. The inside is spectucular, with colorful dome and a sense of soaring symetry. These pictures don't do it justice, since it was nearing sunset when we took them. Also, the camera can't pan out enough to capture the experience of being in the domed space. The engineering is part of the sacredness, if that is possible: the huge main dome is supported by four columns, but then each side is opened up by a slightly-smaller half dome. The way the loads are brought down in perfect symetrical domes and arches would make Prof. Billington, my civil engineering professor at Princeton, go on for many more pages on the subject... ;)

After exiting, we enjoyed the gardens some more. Each of these mosques are monuments to the Ottoman empire, the Muslim religion, and the city of Istanbul. We were humbled.

Oh, and one more thing: the Istanbul skyline takes on another personality at night when these mosques are lit up.