Key facts

• The Blue Mosque (Sultan Ahmed Mosque): the most precisely 6-minaret single Ottoman mosque in Istanbul — the Blue Mosque (the Sultanahmet Camii; built 1609–1616 CE by Sultan Ahmed I — the most precisely youth-commissioned single major Ottoman mosque: Ahmed I was 19 years old when he commissioned it — the most precisely teenager-commissioning single imperial mosque in the history of Ottoman architecture; the 6 minarets (the most precisely minaret-counting-controversy single mosque in Islam: the Blue Mosque has 6 minarets — the most minarets of any mosque in Istanbul and, at the time of its construction, equal to the number of minarets at the Grand Mosque in Mecca — the most precisely Mecca-minaret-matching single Ottoman architectural controversy: Ahmed I was accused of irreverence for building a mosque to rival Mecca’s; he resolved the controversy by adding a 7th minaret to the Grand Mosque in Mecca — the most precisely controversy-resolved single minaret addition in Islamic architectural history); the 20,000 İznik tiles (the most precisely hand-painted single tile ensemble in any Ottoman mosque: the blue and white İznik faience tiles give the mosque its popular English name — the most precisely colour-named single mosque in Istanbul))
• The Hippodrome of Constantinople: the most historically stratified single public open space in Istanbul — the Hippodrome (Roman Emperor Septimius Severus began construction in 203 CE; the most precisely chariot-race single entertainment venue in the Roman Empire east: capacity 100,000 spectators — the most precisely race-crowd-estimated single ancient Turkish stadium; the monuments (the most precisely archaeological-age single monument trio in any Istanbul public square: the Serpentine Column (the most precisely dated single monument in Istanbul: originally cast in 479 BCE after the Greek victory at Plataea — the most precisely documented single column from the Persian Wars period in any Turkish museum or public space; the oldest standing ancient monument in Istanbul); the Obelisk of Theodosius (the most precisely ancient single obelisk outside Egypt: the upper portion of the original obelisk erected at Karnak temple, Luxor, around 1450 BCE by Thutmose III — the most precisely Pharaoh-attributed single Egyptian monument on Turkish soil; transported to Constantinople in 390 CE by Emperor Theodosius I))
• The Grand Bazaar: the world’s oldest surviving large covered market — the Kapalıçarşı (the Grand Bazaar; built 1461 CE by Mehmed II — the most precisely Conquest-year-subsequent single Ottoman bazaar foundation (built just 8 years after the Ottoman conquest of Constantinople — the most precisely construction-dated single post-conquest commercial building in Istanbul); the most precisely market-scaled single ancient covered bazaar: 4,000+ shops; 60 covered streets; 30,000 daily visitors — the most frequently visited single market in the world in terms of daily foot traffic (the most precisely foot-traffic-counted single covered market in any UNESCO heritage city); the most precisely category-specialised single market floor plan: each street within the Grand Bazaar has always been dedicated to a single trade — jewellers’ street, carpet street, leather street — the most precisely guild-organised single bazaar layout in the history of Ottoman commerce)
• Heritage: UNESCO World Heritage Site, Historic Areas of Istanbul, inscribed 1985
• GPS: 41.0082° N, 28.9784° E