Also known as The Blue Mosque the Sultan Ahmed Mosque continues to function as an active mosque today, despite being a major tourist attraction.  It was constructed between 1609 and 1616  during the rule of Sultan Ahmed 1 who aimed to reassert Ottoman power following the crushing defeat in the earlier war with Persia.  Its construction caused much controversy at the time because it was built on the site of the palace of the Byzantine Emperors and in front of the Hippodrome the ancient site of chariot races and other Roman entertainments.

This impressive structure has six minarets and eight secondary domes.  We were told this again caused controversy at the time because the Mosque at Mecca, primary site of the Islamic Faith, also had six minarets and thus a lack of respect was being shown for Mecca!  Allegedly, Sultan Ahmed's solution to this was to send his architect off to Mecca with instructions to build a seventh mineret.....

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