The Blue Mosque, Istanbul, Turkey

Luna's head plowed forward like a bull about to gore someone. Or something.

I frantically chased her around.

Ducked here and there to avoid knocking tourists out. Every second I hoped to see hubby's face in the tourist buzz. I was waiting for his return. Minutes ago he quickly walked back to our hotel, about two hundred meters away, to stow our daughter's sorta useless stroller. It didn't function well on Istanbul's cobblestone streets and we weren't planning to lug it throughout our day-long, do-it-yourself walking tour.

In the courtyard of Sultan Ahmet Camii, more popularly known as the Blue Mosque.    Access from a more peaceful side.  

It was late spring under the Turkish skies. We were right outside one of the entrances to the Blue Mosque. In between my sprints after Luna, I watched more and more visitors fall in queue to get in the main prayer room. I then realized that I forgot to bring a headscarf. This I mentioned to the hubby when he finally got back looking slightly disoriented. I never asked, but I assumed he got lost along the way. His reply was so inaudible, it might as well have come with a muzzle. 

I pretended to understand and motioned for him to fish Luna out of an off-limits garden.

  Oh that impish smile.   Tourists lined up to see the mosque's interiors.  

Unbeknownst to us, just the week prior, authorities started providing robes and skirts (they used to lend only scarves) to visitors whose attire wasn't in line with religious rules. Summer was approaching and they were expecting scantily-clad vacationists to swing by.

So... We could have entered after all (not that I was scantily-clad). But then again the sight of the queue made us wince, hence we settled for the mosque's courtyard.

 

Blue Mosque, the stunner.

Arcades that surround the inner courtyard.

The courtyard is almost the same size as the mosque itself. And we found it frenetic when we stepped in. Tourists poured from all entrances. The flow, nonstop. Hubby and I positioned ourselves under an arcade, in an unpopular corner while Luna ran to her heart's desire.

Amidst the chaos we gaped at Blue Mosque's pulchritude.

One of the six minarets.

Architect Sedefkâr Mehmed Ağa knew splendor well.

Sultan Ahmet Camii was built  from 1609 to 1616, under the rule of Ottoman Sultan Ahmet I. It's more popularly known as the Blue Mosque because of the exquisite blue ceramic tiles that adorn its interior walls — which we unfortunately didn't see. Also, unique to this imperial mosque is its six minarets since the common maximum is four, and they are classical examples of Turkish architecture. It has one main dome and eight secondary domes that, to me, appears to be a cascade of some sort.

View of Blue Mosque from Sultanahmet Park.

We stood in awe for quite a long while until Luna tugged my dorky shirt to invite me to a game of run-along-the-red-carpet-'til-we-huff. I glanced at my watch. Surprised by the time, I grabbed my daughter by the hand. She'd have to resume her running some place else...

At Hagia Sophia.
 

Luna started and ended her Blue Mosque tour with a dash.  

Turkey In Two Weeks And A Day 2013: 

Istanbul, Turkey: When The Dust Temporarily Settled 

How To Apply For A Turkey Tourist Visa In The Philippines

ShareTweet

This page was viewed times.