The Camlica Mosque is the largest in Turkey out of the 82,500 mosques. It is built on the Istanbul hill in the city at a height of 288m and can accommodate 63,000 people. I can say it is a sophisticated & posh mosque in Istanbul and a symbol in the city.
Camlica mosque is an example of Ottoman-Seljuk style of architecture. The mosque campus features a museum, art gallery, library, conference hall, and underground parking lot for over 3,000 vehicles.
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How to reach Camlica mosque
The Camlica mosque is located on the Asian side of Istanbul whereas the Grand Bazaar, Spice Bazaar, Galata Bridge are located on the European side. The easiest and the fastest way to reach the Asian side is to take the Marmaray (76.6 km long transcontinental commuter rail line) and get down at ‘Üsküdar Istasyonu’ station. From there, many buses (9UD, 11C, 11L, 129 T) reach the mosque. More info available on this map. Get down at Kisikli bus stop and then a 10 min steep hike to the mosque.
Timings and Tickets
The mosque is open every day of the week from 9.00 am – 5.00 pm. It is closed to the public during prayer hours. The prayer timings are available on the Prayer website. The entry to the mosque is free.
Youtube video
Around Camlica
The mosque campus is huge and it is free to walk around the entire campus. To reach the viewpoint, take the staircase. The top floor is the main point because it offers the best view of the city overlooking the Bosporous strait. I can say that the view is as good as the view from the Galata Tower. The best time to visit is during sunset.
View from the mosque
There is a huge door to enter the mosque. Before that, remove your shoes, pick up a scarf from the rack and dress modestly. You will be amazed to see how beautiful the interiors are.
Main entrance courtyard
During our visit, it was very windy, cloudy and cold. We could not spend much time admiring the view. We quickly captured a few pics and made our way inside.
Interiors
This magnificent architecture has over 70 domes and the height of the outer dome is 72 meters. The 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.
The interiors with the dome(Sourced from the internet)
It has six minarets with a height of 107 meters which represents the six beliefs of Islam. The inner walls of the dome have sixteen names of Allah. The salient features of the mosque are the Mosque lamp, windows, tile panels just to name a few.
The window
Can you believe, the mosque floor has 17,000 square metre hand-woven carpet? It is beautiful. Did you know that Çamlıca Mosque is a “female-friendly mosque”? There is a separate place for women to perform ablutions and an elevator to take them to where they can pray.
My experience
The completely white mosque is beauty at its best. It is visible from every corner of Istanbul and is much much better than Hagia Sophia. Its unique features and fine details are a symbol of master-piece. See it to believe it.
Overall experience: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ out of 5.
”Bizarre travel plans are dancing lessons from God” -Kurt Vonnegut
Camlica mosque is an example of Ottoman-Seljuk style of architecture. The mosque campus features a museum, art gallery, library, conference hall, and underground parking lot for over 3,000 vehicles.
