The story of Sultan Ahmed Mosque

More than 20,000 İznik tiles cover this mosque, painted with traditional plant motifs in shades of yellow and blue. Because of its blue, green and white tiles and the mostly blue painted decoration inside its domes, Europeans call it the Blue Mosque. Sultan Ahmed I had it built between 1609 and 1617 by the architect Sedefkâr Mehmed Ağa, and it is often seen as the last great mosque of the classical period.

Step inside the prayer hall, 64 by 72 metres, and look up: the central dome, 23.5 metres across and 43 metres high, rests on four massive piers, while more than 200 coloured glass windows let in the light. The calligraphy is by Seyyid Kasım Gubarî of Diyarbakır. Outside, count the minarets: Sultanahmet was Turkey's first mosque with six.

The courtyard is almost as large as the mosque itself, ringed by an unbroken arcade.