A_way to Yahweh

“Do you know why they call it the Blue Mosque,” a friendly local asked, letting us know we’d better see it today because it would be closed in the next three days for a religious festival. Practicing his English he became our “friend” hoping we would visit his family’s shops (which we did and it was fun—introduced to curious little glass cups for tea and apple cider.) It’s the second largest Mosque in Turkey and third largest next to Mecca. At the time it was built it was controversial because it had more spires than Mecca. From a distance on the base of two of the six spires roofs was adorned with blue paint but that’s not it either. The courtyard where some five to six thousand will gather for special events didn’t have any sign of blue. It was pretty much all marble stone and concrete. Our “friend” took us past the long line where the hundreds of people from the cruise ships would wait to get inside. We had to remove our shoes and put them in little plastic bags to carry inside under the dome. For those women who didn’t have a head covering, a blue cloth was given at the doorway. But that’s not the reason. Inside the red carpet has a special pattern for where one places their feet, hands and face for prayer. The four columns of stone were as wide as red woods. Eyes drawn upward, you could see the reason. I thought it was due to the blue in the stain glass windows or how blue people felt when loved ones died. But no, seven thousand soldiers worked day and night shifts in the 1609 to 1616 building from the ground up at the height of handmade ceramics. Over 20,000 handmade tiles in ancient Nicaea displayed different designs. The blues on white tiles closest to the bottom were flamboyant flowers, fruit and cypresses. But as the sultans decreed an ever higher price for their tiles they became cheaper with tulip designs. I couldn’t help but to think in my bare feet that we were all with Al Dubin, “Tip Toeing Through the Tulips.” The area around the equivalent to a pulpit was sectioned off for the local Muslim members to pray facing Mecca. Shops line in the buildings where the horses were once kept. Not much different as the horse left overs are now replaced with tourist stuff. As the sultans learned a lesson about economics. We learned about the prices of handmade silk carpet. Each carpet takes about six months or more to make, tying one thread at a time.