The Blue Mosque

Sultan Ahmed Mosque, six minarets, finished in 1616 and directly facing Hagia Sophia across a garden — which is exactly why it was built there. The blue is inside: some twenty thousand İznik tiles in the upper walls, which is why the light in the prayer hall is the colour it is.

The six minarets caused a scandal at the time, because Mecca had six and no other mosque was supposed to match it. The story is that a seventh was paid for at Mecca to settle it.

What it costs

Free. It is a working neighbourhood mosque that happens to be one of the most famous buildings in the world, and it charges nothing, as mosques do not.

There is a separate visitors’ entrance on the south side rather than the courtyard gate the congregation uses. Follow the signs round; do not join the queue at the front.

When to go

Closed to visitors around each of the five prayers and for a long stretch around Friday midday. Early morning after the first prayer, or the late afternoon gap, are the quietest.

The interior was under restoration for years and reopened in full — the scaffolding you may have seen in older photographs is gone.

Getting there

The Sultanahmet tram stop, the same one as Hagia Sophia. The two face each other across the park and the walk between them is two minutes.

If you only have an hour

Come in through the courtyard first if you can — the arcade and the ablution fountain are half the building and most people walk straight past them. Inside, stand at the back on the carpet and let your eyes adjust before you look up. The tiles do not read at all until they do.

What people get wrong

Arriving during prayer and assuming the closure is a queue. It is not; the doors are shut and will open again.

And photographing worshippers. The prayer hall is in use by people who live here. Photograph the building.