Un de nos plus grands plaisirs à Istanbul fut la visite des grandes mosquées. Dans la majorité des pays musulmans, les mosquées ne sont pas ouvertes au non-musulmans. En Turquie, il est possible de les visiter et même de prendre des photos en dehors des heures de prière. Evidemment, il faut suivre les règles de base: retirer ses souliers, être habillé modestement, et pour les femmes se couvrir la tête et les épaules.
La journée est aussi ponctuée de 5 appels à la prière. Le chant des muezzins se fait alors entendre partout dans la ville et les différentes mosquées semblent rivaliser entre elles. Ces appels à la prière demeurent des moments magiques, même à 4h30 du matin!
One of our greatest pleasures in Istanbul was the visit of the great mosques. In most Muslim countries, mosques are not open to non-Muslims. In Turkey, it is possible to visit them and even take pictures outside of prayer times. Obviously, you must follow some basic rules: to remove your shoes, to be dressed modestly, and for women to cover their heads and shoulders.
The day is punctuated by five calls to prayer. The singing of the muezzins is then heard throughout the city and the various mosques seem to compete with each other. These calls to prayer are always magical moments, even at 4:30 am!
La silhouette d’Istanbul se définie par les minarets. Partout où l’on pose les yeux, il y a de nouveaux minarets qui semblent apparaître. Ils ont un peu l’apparence de fusées ou de missiles, mais ils sont bien jolis! / The Istanbul skyline is defined by its minarets. Wherever you look, there are new minarets that seem to appear. They look like little rockets or missiles, but they are very pretty!Sultanahmet Camii: La mosquée bleue est probablement la plus connue des touristes. Elle fut construite au 17e siècle; elle compte 6 minarets (ce qui causa un émoi à l’époque car c’était autant que la grande mosquée de la Mecque!) et a plus de 20 000 carreaux en faïence bleue (d’où son surnom). / The Blue Mosque is probably the most famous among tourists. It was built in the 17th century; it has six minarets (which caused a stir at the time because it was as many as the Great Mosque of Mecca!) and has more than 20,000 blue glazed tiles (hence the nickname).Sokollu Mehmet Paşa Camii: Notre guide disait que cette mosquée, construite en 1571 par Mimar Sinan, était très belle mais qu’elle n’était ouverte qu’à l’heure de la prière donc difficile à visiter. Nous avons été agréablement surpris quand nous l’avons trouvé ouverte à la visite. Et quelle merveille à découvrir! Beaucoup plus petite en dimension mais un décor sublime. / Our guidebook said that this mosque, built in 1571 by Mimar Sinan, was very nice but that it was only opened during prayer times so difficult to visit. We were pleasantly surprised to found it open to visitors. And what a wonderful discovery! Much smaller in size but a sublime decor.Küçük Ayasofya Camii: La petite soeur d’Aya Sofya et une autre basilique construite par Justinien en 527 et convertie en mosquée au 16e siècle. La simplicité du décor nous a charmé. / The little sister of Aya Sofya and another basilica built by Justinian in 527 and converted into a mosque in the 16th century. The simplicity of the decor charmed us.Yeni Camii: La nouvelle mosquée (en fait, pas si nouvelle car elle fut construite entre 1597 et 1665) fut notre coup de coeur. Un décor simple et raffiné. La dernière photo montre des hommes faisant leurs ablutions avant la prière. / The new mosque (actually not so new as it was built between 1597 and 1665) was our favorite. A simple and tasteful decor. The last picture shows men doing their ablutions before prayer.Süleymaniye Camii: Une grande mosquée construite par Mimar Sinan entre 1550-1557 pour le sultan Soliman le Magnifique. Un décor sobre qui incite au recueillement. Car les mosquées ne sont pas uniquement des lieux de prière; elles sont aussi des havres de paix dans la jungle urbaine d’Istanbul. Il est fréquent de voir les visiteurs simplement s’assoir sur les tapis et prendre le temps de respirer un peu… / A large mosque built by Mimar Sinan between 1550-1557 for Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent. A sober decor that encourages contemplation. The mosques aren’t only places for prayers but also safe havens from the Istanbul urban jungle. It is common to see visitors simply sit on the carpet and take the time to breathe a little…
[Auteur/Author: Suzanne & Pierre]
Anthony Thompson said:
I’ve seen mosques in the US, Paris, Malaysia and India. These Turkish mosques are the most impressive (beautiful) I’ve ever seen. Wonderful images!
Suzanne et Pierre said:
Hi Anthony: I had forgotten that we had also visited the Mosque in Paris. It is a beautiful mosque but you don’t see or have access to the prayer area – it is hidden from visitors. I agree that the Istanbul mosques are absolutely amazing and it was such a pleasure to visit them. We kept stopping any time we came across a mosque to go see if we could visit it.
Kongo said:
How lucky you are to be in Istanbul, one of my favorite places. I love the Blue Mosque, Haggah Sophia, the cisterns, the hippodrome, all just fantastic.
Suzanne et Pierre said:
Thanks Kongo: Yes, Istanbul is a wonderful city (if you want to see pictures of all of your other favourite places, you can see our previous post!). We were there a few weeks ago for 4 1/2 days which wasn’t enough to do the city justice.
Kongo said:
Wonderful photographs!
Suzanne et Pierre said:
Thanks…much appreciated.
bulldog said:
These are just so impressive… unbelievably beautiful… thanks for sharing…
Suzanne et Pierre said:
Thanks…yes, they are amazing. Glad you enjoyed these pictures.
Richard said:
It’s really neat in there. Did you noticed if the really beautiful architectures were mainly churches? And do you have a pic of you (Suzanne) with your head covered? How did that feel? Any realizations come to mind? 😉
Suzanne et Pierre said:
Hi Richard: I didn’t take a picture this time around but have one from my visit in 2010. I didn’t mind it (reminded me how you had to wear a hat when you entered into a Catholic church of my youth) though this time it was very hot as the temperature were between 30 & 35C. So sometimes I had to leave the mosque because I was totally melting…I sometimes wondered how the Turkish women could deal with being completely covered from head to toe in heavy clothes…it must have been very uncomfortable.
cindy knoke said:
Beautiful~
Suzanne et Pierre said:
Thanks Cindy.
faz said:
Lovely photos of the mosques, I loved how there were mosques everywhere in Istanbul. I was looking forward to seeing the same style mosques in Morocco but they had a completely different architecture style to my surprise!
Suzanne et Pierre said:
Thanks Faz. Yes, we were also fascinated by mosques in Istanbul. I will now have to go to Morocco to see how different they are…
thriftytravelmama said:
Wow, your photos are really making me wish we could have seen more mosques. The variety and craftsmanship are just amazing.
Suzanne et Pierre said:
Thanks for your note. I am glad to hear you enjoyed these photos. It is too bad you didn’t have time to visit more mosques but with young kids it might have been difficult. Maybe next time you visit Istanbul!!!
thriftytravelmama said:
Definitely. We would love to go back, and there is much more of Turkey we want to see as well.