[ad_1]
The Sultan Ahmed Mosque is one of the most elegant works of Turkish Islamic civilization that has left its mark on the city, built by Sultan Ahmed I, the 16th Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, a student of Mimar Sinan.
Sultan Ahmed I was the first to dig the foundations of the mosque, and construction began in 1609 on the second of Istanbul’s seven hills.
The mosque took 7 years, 5 months and 6 days to build at a cost of 1 million 510,000 gold coins and was opened for worship on June 9, 1617, with state dignitaries attending the ceremony.
In addition to being a place of worship, the Sultanahmet Mosque was also one of the largest social complexes of its time.
There were madrasas, sultan’s houses, Arasta, shops, baths, fountains, tombs, hospitals, primary schools, poorhouses and rented rooms. Some of these buildings no longer exist today.
The mosque is the culmination of 200 years of integration of Ottoman mosque and Byzantine church architecture and is known as the last great mosque of the classical period.
Its interior decoration uses 21,000 pieces of 43 tiles.
The central dome of the mosque is 43 meters high and 23.5 meters in diameter, with a total of 260 windows for lighting.
The mosque’s plan is similar to that of Mimar Sinan’s Shehzad Mosque, with four semi-domes supporting a central dome from four sides.
The piece, which has a nearly square rectangular plan, is also admired for its marble, mother-of-pearl and wood workmanship.
The most magnificent part of the Sultan Ahmed Mosque is the tiles used to decorate its interior.
The mosque contains a total of 21,000 43 tiles, produced in Iznik and Kutahya workshops in the late 16th and early 17th centuries.
The mosque was called the “Blue Mosque” by Europeans because of the various patterns embroidered in white on the square blocks, the dark blue patterns embroidered on the rectangular border tiles, the pencil work dominated by blue, and the brightness provided by the stained glass windows.
The inscriptions on this mosque, famous for its tiles, bear the signature of Seyyid Kasım Gübari from Diyarbakır, one of the great calligraphers of the time.
The inner courtyard of the mosque is paved with marble and surrounded by a porch with 26 columns and 30 domes. There is a 6-column fountain in the center of the courtyard.
Another feature of the Sultan Ahmed Mosque is that it was the first mosque of the period to have six minarets. Four of the minarets have three balconies each, and the other two have two balconies each. The total number of balconies on the minarets is 16, indicating that Sultan Ahmed I was the 16th Sultan of the Ottoman Empire.
The Sultan Ahmed Mosque was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1985 and can accommodate about 12,000 people praying at the same time.
The mosque is one of Istanbul’s most popular destinations for local and foreign tourists, with an average of 20,000 visitors per day in summer and 10,000 visitors per day in winter.
The Sultan Ahmed Mosque has been restored 6 times in its history.
The mosque has been restored six times so far, the most comprehensive restoration in its history within the scope of the project “Blue Mosque Conservation and Restoration Project” initiated by the Foundation’s General Directorate in 2018.
After nearly five years of work, the mosque reopened for worship after Friday prayers on the first day of Eid al-Fitr on April 21, 2023, with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in attendance.
During the five-year restoration process, many details of the mosque, from the dome to the minaret, tiles to carpets and lighting systems, were updated, and the mosque was closed to tourists and worship for only five months.
The scaffolding installed inside the mosque is about 38 meters high, and the band inscriptions and joints on the dome have been cleaned. In addition, the so-called inner and outer covers on the windows have also been replaced.
As part of the project, three minarets of the mosque were removed. The stones of the minarets were numbered and put back in their original places after making the necessary improvements.
During the work, structural problems with the mosque’s dome were resolved, the leads were updated, and the dome’s spire was restored.
While intervention was carried out to correct the deformation and collapse of the ground in the mosque courtyard, waterways were arranged under the courtyard to prevent water accumulation.
The preservation of mother-of-pearl, kundekari doors and similar wooden parts is done in a workshop set up inside the mosque.
The decorations and brushwork used inside the mosque have also been updated in accordance with the original colours.
During the restoration process, interventions in the original architecture of the mosque were identified and eliminated, based on its original state.
The mosque, whose electrical installations and lighting systems have been completely renewed, continues to hold its place in Istanbul’s unique silhouette with its final appearance.
[ad_2]
Source link
