There was a lot of controversy around the construction of the Sultan Ahmed Mosque in Istanbul. It was not that people did not like the beauty of this mosque. The controversy was more about Sultan Ahmed himself. First, he had not won any great victories for Islam that would justify building such an opulent mosque. Second, he had the audacity to add 6 minarets (not shown). The number of minarets that a mosque had indicated the importance of the builder. And the only mosque in the world at the time with 6 minarets was the mosque in Mecca. Many called for him to knock down one of the offending towers. Instead the sultan solved the issue by adding a 7th minaret to the mosque in Mecca.

This beautiful mosque was clearly influenced by the design of Hagia Sophia which it faces. Its blue tile work has led it to be called the “blue mosque” by tourists.

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