Turkey’s largest mosque opens for worship in Istanbul

ISTANBUL, TURKEY - MARCH 07: Muslims observe the holy night of Laylat al-Raghaib marking the beginning of three holy months on the Islamic Hijri calendar: Rajab, Sha’ban, and Ramadan on March 07, 2019 at the Camlica Mosque, the largest mosque of Turkey located on the Camlica hill of Istanbul. Turkish Energy and Natural Resources Minister Fatih Donmez also attended a program at the 63,000-capacity mosque which opened for worship Thursday with Fajr (morning) prayers and Adhan, call for prayer. Built in the Ottoman-Seljuk style of architecture, the mosque can be easily viewed from every corner of the city. It is not only a mosque but also a complex, which includes a museum of Turkish Islamic art, a library, an art gallery, a conference hall, workshops as well as a car park with a 3,500-car capacity. It has six minarets representing the six beliefs of Islam. Four minarets are 107.1 meters tall, a tribute to the 1071 Manzikert victory of the Seljuk Turks against the Byzantine army that opened up Anatolia for Turkish domination. Its 72-meter high main dome represents 72 nations living in the city. The second dome with a diameter of 34 meters represents the car license number plate of Istanbul. There are 16 names of Allah inscribed inside the dome, symbolizing the number of states founded by Turks. A three-piece finial on the main dome, weighing 4.5 tons and at a height of 7.77 meters is the largest of its kind. A 17,000-square-meter carpet rolled out at the mosque is a specially designed hand-knotted carpet. The minbar of the mosque, a pulpit from which sermons of Friday and religious festivals are delivered, is 21-meter high and can be lifted through an elevator. (Footage by Yunus Emre Gunaydin&Kerem Alperen Kaya/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)