The Blue Mosque, also known as Sultan Ahmed Mosque, is one of most visited tourist attractions in Istanbul, yet its colour immediately astounds every visitor. The Blue Mosque isn’t blue on the outside, but instead is known as “Blue Mosque” because of the blue tiles adorning the walls of interior.
In November 2013, a major restoration project began at the mosque to change the colours of its domes and minarets. However, it was discovered that one of the mosque’s minarets had shifted five centimetres during preparations for a comprehensive restoration, and it was taken under restoration to be reinforced.
After the restoration of the shifted minaret, the project was continued. Two years ago, the mayor of Istanbul’s Fatih district, Mustafa Demir, mentioned its restoration, which has only just been materialized as expected. On Thursday, 31 March 2016, the restoration works were completed and the mosque was completely painted blue. According to the authorities, the cost of this project was around 34 Million dollars.