February 12, 2011

May 10: Istanbul's Blue Mosque


Before entering the mosque, we of course took off our shoes. Those who didn't have their legs and arms covered were given blue cloths. Here's a lovely man in his new blue skirt. He was happily posing for his family, so I hope he doesn't mind I took a picture too! In spite of the number of tourists in the mosque, it was quiet inside. Before the prayers, five times a day, all tourists are ushered out. The time of day for each prayer shifts slightly each day, along with sunrise and sunset. The daily times are posted outside of mosque doors--some handwritten, some on LED panels....

May 10: Istanbul - inside the Blue Mosque







May 10: Istanbul's Blue Mosque
















May 10: Istanbul, calligraphy inside the Blue Mosque




Calligraphy is one of the noble Islamic arts. A sultan's personal monogram incorporated his name, titles, accomplishments--even his hopes. I find that marvelous, and was also taken with the family Ameliae in ancient Rome. The Ameliae were the first PR firm, I think, and spent all their efforts glorifying their own selves and ancestors. They made up all sorts of wonderful stories about themselves, turned their house into a museum to their family while they still lived in it, and even struck coins with their own images on them. Ha!

May 10: Inside the Blue Mosque













May 10: Istanbul, the Blue Mosque











It was quite dark inside the mosque, and hushed and cool. These two images are the same photo--one an unadorned shot with my trusty camera, and the other after running it through Microsoft's "Picture It!" software. Love the lovely camera. Pleased with the software. Fun to open the image, click a button in "Picture It!" and turn the lights on. Almost all of my pix of the Blue Mosque interior were taken without flash.




May 10: Istanbul
















The Blue Mosque