Blue Mosque

Sultan Ahmed I built his mosque between 1609 and 1617 directly opposite Hagia Sophia, a deliberate statement that Ottoman architecture could match the Byzantine masterpiece. Its cascade of domes and six minarets — an unprecedented number that, legend says, obliged the sultan to fund a seventh at Mecca — define the Sultanahmet skyline. Inside, 20,000-plus hand-painted tiles from İznik in blues and greens give it the name foreigners use.

Visiting

• Entry is free. Visitors use the north-side entrance from the Hippodrome, not the worshippers' door.
• Closed to non-worshippers for around 30 minutes at each of the five prayers and for about two hours around Friday noon prayers; sunrise-to-sunset otherwise.
• Shoes off (plastic bags provided), shoulders and knees covered, hair covered for women — wraps are lent free at the door.
• A six-year restoration finished in 2023; the interior is brighter than any photo you have seen.

Timing and photos

Arrive at opening (about 08:30) to have the prayer hall nearly to yourself, or come 45 minutes after a prayer ends. The classic exterior shot is from the Sultanahmet park fountain with Hagia Sophia behind you, or from the Arasta Bazaar side for the domes without crowds. At night the mosque is lit from below and the call to prayer echoes between it and Hagia Sophia — one of the great free experiences of the city.