My Istanbul Winter Trip: The Blue Mosque

The Blue Mosque @ Sultanahmet

Lepas balik dari Grand Bazaar dngn barang pembelian yg x seberapa nak banyak tu, kami singgah di blue mosque. Blue mosque ni terletak kat Sultanahmet ja.. kalau turun tram kat Sultanahmet, jalan sikit ke depan, nampaklah blue mosque yg tersergam indah ni.. Sebenarnya, nama sebenar masjid ni adalah Masjid Sultan Ahmed.  Masjid ni ni ada banyak entrance..So, ikut sukalah nak masuk entrance mana... I always use entrance F to walk from my hotel to Sultanahmet. The 1st night when i arrived, i complained, "jln jauh, penat..dahla berbatu2 bonggol..susah nak bawak beg.." On the 2nd day, as we explored the area, we found a shortcut through Gate F of the mosque. Tp cuma sampai isyak ajalah, after isyak, they will lock the gate till subuh the next morning.  Memang sangat pantas jalan tu, instead of 15 minutes walk, cuma 5 minutes mcm tu aja to Sultanahmet.

Entrance F that saved me from the long walk...:) 

Perhaps, waktu i p was winter time, so, the crowd was not so huge... There were people visiting the mosque  all the time but not as many as summer time where u have to Q in order to enter the mosque.

The entrance to the mosque. Everyone needs to take off their shoes and
put them in plastic bags provided at the entrance

 Since 1st day sampai Istanbul, memang hari2 lalu blue mosque.. In fact, our room was also facing the blue mosque (with tv aerials as extra accessories to my view).

View from my room...Aerial2 ni memang kacau daon...

Yg ni pulak, Night view from our room. Everyday, kami dengar azan subuh dari bilik,
memang dekat sebenarnya hotel dengan masjid. 

Berdekatan dengan blue mosque ada one area with plenty of benches for the visitors to sit and admire the beauty of the building. There are people who take the opportunity to capture photographs overlooking the mosque.

Rumput yang menghijau..I wonder what happen to the grass in Jan or Feb? Still preserving its greenery? Kat sana
sikit ada fountain...

Kami pon ambik peluang jugak tangkap gambar... Mintak tlng tourist lain..he..he.. 

Let's get a closer look inside the mosque. oh yes, in case u're wondering about the entrance fee, It's free of charge but u are free to donate some money for the maintenance of the mosque.

This section is open for all visitors

Meanwhile...

This section is only for the muslims to pray. No tourists permitted to enter this area,
unless they want to pray, of course.

 The chandeliers.  This side is allocated for the muslims to pray. Visitors are not allowed to enter
this side as to give respect to people who want to pray.
 The ladies have a separate place to pray that isjust behind this area. 

This is the boundary for the visitors.

 The interior of the mosque is lined with more than 20,000 handmade ceramic tiles. The upper parts are mostly
blue in color. 

Ablution tap. Left photo: Quranic verse mounted
on the wall

That's about it for the Blue Mosque. Kalau ada rezeki
sampai ke Istanbul, make sure u all singgah sini ya...! Oh ya, before i sign off, Salam Maulidur Rasul to all Muslims all over the world.

This one is  for all of my readers! TQ all for visiting!