HIstorical Istanbul

On Monday morning, October 19 2009, Vishanj arrived in Istanbul from Dushanbe. And Vishanj and Vixabs met for the third time this year! And no sooner had we met, we began to make plans for the rest of the day. And as usual, our plans were over-aggressive!

We took a taxi to the Sultanahmet area. Over there, after crossing the Arasta Bazar, we walked inside the famous Blue Mosque. Inside the walled enclosure, there was a big courtyard where we waited briefly for the prayer time to get over before walking in. The mosque is HUGE! Stained glass windows adorn its upper layers and vie with hand-painted tiles in blue patterns for our attention. Long steel wires run all the way from the domes that on the cieling of the mosque to just a little higher than human height. From these steel wires are suspended chandeliers and stands to place lamps and lit candles. The entire floor is carpeted. A rich kaleidoscope of colours greets the eyes when you walk in - with stained glass, tiles, and painted pillars and walls help provide a soothing yet bright appearance. The most impressive part of the mosque though are the domes. They are high up and supported by tall columns and painted all over.

On entering the mosque, we had to take our shoes off, and put them in conveniently placed plastic bags that we carried with us into the mosque. That's somewhat different from Hindu temples where we take our footwear off, but leave them outside the sanctum sanctorum!

The Ottoman style of building mosques and other monuments is quite unique. The domes - while being very large, are relatively shallow in depth. Underneath them, from the outside, are wide, sweeping arches that span not just the doorways but go much beyond to cover a width almost has big as the dome themselves. And on the sides of these buildings are the minarets - tall, long, and somewhat devoid of decorative embellishments.

From the Blue Mosque, we walked around in the Sultanahmet area looking for places to eat and also checking out the place. We walked in front of Hagia Sofia and then arrived at the Sultan Pub near the Basilica Cistern.