“Do you know why they call it the Blue Mosque,” a friendly
local asked. He let us know we’d better see it today because it would be
closed for the next three days. (Luther was tired at this point and said, "Apparently some religious worship thing was more important than us tourists!") So we went with our new "friend" who wanted to practice his English and hoped we would visit his family’s shops after the mosque.
At the time it was built it was controversial because it had more spires than Mecca. When they build another spire in Mecca, it all became okay. (Luther said this mosque was aspiring to become better than Mecca, showoffs.) From a distance on the base of two of the six spires roofs was adorned with blue paint but that’s not the reason they call it blue. The courtyard holds some five to six thousand men shoulder to shoulder for special events. No blue there either but 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 removed 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 it's called blue.
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 why they call it the Blue Mosque. First of all its obviously a mosque, hence Blue Mosque. But the colorful part I thought was due to the stain glass windows. But no, seven thousand soldiers worked day and night shifts in the 1609 to 1616 building from the ground up covering the walls with handmade ceramics. Over 20,000 tiles in ancient Nicaea displayed different designs. The blue on white closest to the bottom depicted flamboyant flowers, fruit and cypresses. But as the sultans decreed an ever higher price for their blue tiles. (Luther said, Those sultan prices became sulking payments.) Since the blue tulip designs were cheaper they became used from the middle to the top. I couldn’t help but to think in my bare feet that we were all with Al Dubin, “Tip Toeing Through the Tulips.” (Luther said, "That' just plain weird.") The area around the equivalent to a pulpit was sectioned off for the local Muslim members to pray facing Mecca.
Outside shops filled the buildings where the horses were once kept. (Luther doesn't like shopping unless it involves food. He said, "It's not much different. 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 carpets. (Luther said, "Wow, that would be enough to buy a banana plantation.) Each carpet takes about six months or more to make not to mention spinning all the silk the little worms can make. (Luther thinks eating the worms would be a better use. They are rich in protein and you can floss at the same time.) The inventory comes from different regions of Turkey each having their own style with rich symbolism. It all became clear why our "friend" gave us the tour of the second largest Mosque in Turkey and third largest in the world next to Mecca. The hospitality complete with tea in the upper show room was excellent.
At the time it was built it was controversial because it had more spires than Mecca. When they build another spire in Mecca, it all became okay. (Luther said this mosque was aspiring to become better than Mecca, showoffs.) From a distance on the base of two of the six spires roofs was adorned with blue paint but that’s not the reason they call it blue. The courtyard holds some five to six thousand men shoulder to shoulder for special events. No blue there either but 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 removed 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 it's called blue.
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 why they call it the Blue Mosque. First of all its obviously a mosque, hence Blue Mosque. But the colorful part I thought was due to the stain glass windows. But no, seven thousand soldiers worked day and night shifts in the 1609 to 1616 building from the ground up covering the walls with handmade ceramics. Over 20,000 tiles in ancient Nicaea displayed different designs. The blue on white closest to the bottom depicted flamboyant flowers, fruit and cypresses. But as the sultans decreed an ever higher price for their blue tiles. (Luther said, Those sultan prices became sulking payments.) Since the blue tulip designs were cheaper they became used from the middle to the top. I couldn’t help but to think in my bare feet that we were all with Al Dubin, “Tip Toeing Through the Tulips.” (Luther said, "That' just plain weird.") The area around the equivalent to a pulpit was sectioned off for the local Muslim members to pray facing Mecca.
Outside shops filled the buildings where the horses were once kept. (Luther doesn't like shopping unless it involves food. He said, "It's not much different. 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 carpets. (Luther said, "Wow, that would be enough to buy a banana plantation.) Each carpet takes about six months or more to make not to mention spinning all the silk the little worms can make. (Luther thinks eating the worms would be a better use. They are rich in protein and you can floss at the same time.) The inventory comes from different regions of Turkey each having their own style with rich symbolism. It all became clear why our "friend" gave us the tour of the second largest Mosque in Turkey and third largest in the world next to Mecca. The hospitality complete with tea in the upper show room was excellent.
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