The Sultan Ahmed Mosque was finished in 1617, after seven years of building, and it was the first mosque in the empire to be given six minarets. The decision caused enough comment at the time that a seventh minaret was added to the Kaaba in Mecca to preserve its precedence.
Inside, more than twenty thousand handmade Iznik tiles line the upper walls, and it is their colour that gave the building its European name. Two hundred and sixty windows carry the light, and the central dome sits on four fluted pillars the guides call elephant feet.
Entry is free. Visitors use a separate door on the south side, shoes are carried in a bag, and women are given a scarf at the entrance. The mosque closes to visitors during the five daily prayers.
From Hotel Sultania it is a walk of about ten minutes.