We got to visit one more famous mosque today: the Suleymaniye Camii. It is about 50 years older than the Blue Mosque and designed by the same architect (Sinan). It is the largest mosque in the city. It was built in just 7 years. The interior is very different from the Blue Mosque. Instead of tiles, it is painted and quite beautiful. I actually liked visiting this one more, in part because it wasn't nearly so crowded and had a more peaceful feeling without so many tourists.
Four minarets
Courtyard
All worshippers must observe a ritual cleansing before entering the mosque to pray. This is the men's area, the women's is actually in the women's restroom area (private). The washing involves just the hands and feet.
Courtyard
Inner dome
Painted walls
An ostrich egg hanging on the chandeliers. They apparently keep spiders (and thus spiderwebs) away.
Each red spot on the carpet marks the prayer space for one person. They kneel on the back edge of the square and then bow their heads to the top part of the space. As you can tell from the long stretch of red squares, many people can pray at the same time in this space.
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