ISTANBUL
The largest mosque of Turkey opened for worship in Istanbul on Thursday.
The opening of Camlica Mosque after a six-year construction period coincided with the holy night of the Islamic month of Rajab.
The 63,000-capacity mosque on Istanbul's Camlica Hill in the Asian side of the city opened for worship 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.
The mosque can host eight funeral prayers at a time.
The Camlica Mosque will officially be inaugurated by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, according to Ergin Kulunk, head of the Remodeling and Sustenance Association of Istanbul Mosque and Culture Service Unit.
