Sultan Ahmed Mosque

Sultan Ahmed Mosque

1617

6042

Blue Mosque

Bugbee, Gordon (photograph)

Single Built Works

Turkey (nation)

Istanbul (inhabited place)

Ottoman (style)

mosques (buildings)

interior views

Interior view of the Blue Mosque in Istanbul, Turkey. "The mosque features two main sections: a large unified prayer hall crowned by the main dome and an equally spacious courtyard. In contrast to earlier imperial mosques in Istanbul, the monotony of the exterior stone walls is relieved through numerous windows and a blind arcade. Huge elevated and recessed entrances penetrate three sides of its precinct to provide access to the sacred core. The courtyard’s inner frame is a domed arcade, which is uniform on all sides except for the prayer hall entrance where the arches expand ... Inside, the central dome rests on delicate pendentives (triangular segments of a spherical surface) with its weight supported on four massive fluted columns. In order to extend the prayer space beyond the span of the central dome, a series of half-domes cascade outwards from the center to ultimately join the exterior walls of the mosque. Of the six minarets (towers traditionally built for the call to prayer), four are positioned on the corners of the mosque’s prayer hall while the other two flank the external corners of the courtyard. Each of these "pencil" minarets has a series of balconies adorning its lean form,"--by Dr. Radha Dalal, KahnAcademy website.

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