The New and Suleymaniye Mosques

Mosques, mosques, mosques. Istanbul, being a primarily Muslim country, has hundreds of mosques all over the place. As you walk through the streets, you can hear the azaan's call to prayer five times a day. It's really interesting because I have never been to a place that is primarily Muslim like me. Another thing: my name is so common here! When I walk past stalls and shops, I can hear people talking in Turkish and then calling "Rabia!" to their friends or others and I always jump and look around. I'm used to being the only person around with my name, so I never have to worry that people aren't actually talking to me. It's a little different here, with all these other Rabias and everyone being able to pronounce my name on the first try! 

Courtyard view of the New Mosque

Later on in the day, we hiked past the Spice Bazaar and up to the Suleymaniye Mosque. It is considered Istanbul's most important mosque. In addition to being a place of worship, it was also a charitable foundation. It fed over 1000 of the city's poor, whether they be Muslim, Jew, or Christian, as well as having a hospital, school, and bath house nearby. We removed our shoes and covered our heads with our scarves and entered the mosque. The sense of spirituality and soaring space due to the enormous dome struck me when I walked in. It was truly a work of art. I am going to try to upload a video clip I took of the inside of the mosque so you can kind of get a feel for what it was like. It won't work right now due to the Internet quality, but I'll try later, so check back!

Exterior of the Suleymaniye Mosque

Man praying in the Suleymaniye Mosque

Tespee (Prayer Beads)

And thus ended our tour of the most famous mosques in Istanbul. We walked back to the hotel, grabbed some traditional Turkish lamb kebabs in an authentic restaurant, and collapsed in bed exhausted.