The Sultanahmet Mosque (also known as the Blue Mosque because of the blue tiles that are used to decorate the interior) is one of the grandest and most famous mosques in Istanbul.

The mosque was criticized early on for having 6 minarets – the same number of the Great Mosque in Mecca. Sultan Ahmet overcame this problem by ordering a 7th minaret to be built at the Great Mosque.

One local anecdote claims that the original design called for several gold minarets. The architect realized that there wasn't enough gold in the empire to construct gold minarets, so he built six minarets instead. When questioned about his decision, the architect claimed that he mistakenly heard the instruction to be six ("altı" in Turkish) minarets rather than gold ("altın" in Turkish) minarets.

#StunningStructures #Trovember

Ryokan in Istanbul

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