After learning the history of the Blue Mosque, you can now learn about its architecture and all the details of it.
The Blue Mosque is an essential example of classical Ottoman architecture. Its outer courtyard, inner courtyard, and central space are in harmony. The mosque has a central plan and bears the characteristics of Ottoman architecture. Porticoes surround the inner courtyard, continuing the traditional Ottoman mosque layout. It attracts attention with its six minarets.
The mosque measures 64 x 72 meters and has a large dome on four large columns. Four semi-domes expand the central dome, and its inner diameter is 22.40 meters. Large columns provide support by connecting to the walls with pointed arches. The square areas at the corners are covered with small domes to create a quadrangular arrangement. The towers with octagonal bodies are covered with pointed domes to strengthen the support arches of the central dome. The mosque is decorated with pointed arched galleries on the outer courtyard facades. There are single-storey sections in the north and double-storey sections in the south. The middle sections are enlivened with different arch patterns and vaults. Four large and small buttresses are on the mihrab side, creating a vaulted space under the mosque.
The interior of the Blue Mosque is decorated with rich tiles and hand-carved wooden, stone, and metal decorations. The upper part of the walls, especially on the northern gallery wall, is decorated with essential compositions. Iznik and Kutahya tiles from the 16th and 17th centuries attract attention with their natural patterns. Writings written by calligrapher Seyyid Kasim decorate the interior of the mosque. In the outer courtyard are windows with rectangular marble jambs at the bottom and pointed arches at the top. The courtyard hosts ablution taps with gallery arrangements in the corners and lintel sections resting on columns with diamond-shaped capitals. At the top are two different pointed arch galleries supported by columns.
The inscription written in gold on the Main Dome of the Blue Mosque represents the Surah Nur quoted from the Holy Quran. To put it briefly: It emphasizes that it is Allah who created the entire universe and that only He can change this established order. The mosque's six minarets, built with limestone, add magnificence. Four minarets are in the corners of the harim, and two are in the corners of the courtyard. The minarets, with polygonal bodies on square bases, have stalactite bottoms and geometric openwork balustrades.
Elephant Leg Style Columns
While the Blue Mosque, built in the 17th century, was completed by Mimar Sinan's student Sedefkar Mehmed Aga, lessons were learned from Hagia Sophia. Today, the main dome of the Hagia Sophia Mosque collapsed and was rebuilt many times during its construction in the 6th century, as the typical rectangular main columns in the interior were not enough to support the main dome. That's why Sedefkar Mehmet Aga chose the elephant leg-style main column for the Blue Mosque, based on the lessons he took from the famous Ottoman architect Sinan. In this way, the main dome appears as a perfect circle; However, this cannot be said for the Hagia Sophia Mosque. Since its construction was rushed, it contains minor errors as a result of the pressure of Justinian, an ambitious emperor.