Mosques

The first mosque we visited was still in Edirne. The guides took us there as it was just up from our cool hotel. What a beautiful place. The same architect, Sinan, who built our hotel also built this mosque. Apparently it’s one of the top 3 mosques in the country. Our guide said it was even nicer than the Blue Mosque in Istanbul. Inside the artwork, tiling and carpeting were very beautiful. It was definitely a sacred space. The women in our group had to wear headscarves to enter the sanctuary, those with their knees showing had to cover up with a labcoat type garment. We all had to take off our shoes. It felt right to be respectful of their space and follow their customs. On the other hand it was also strange that we could continue walking around like tourists taking pictures of everything. (In the orthodox churches we’d been in in Bulgaria it was strictly forbidden to take pictures. In fact, in the one church we weren’t even allowed to take pictures of the outside. I hadn’t noticed the signs and got in trouble by one of the priests walking by. He was quite offended. Then again those of us who accidentally put their shoes backon too early in the mosque also freaked out the attendant there. He was quite agitated and upset, throwing up his arms and exclaiming, “Oh my God!” For us it was just this automatic reflex action to take our shoes and put them on right away. We felt bad.)


Other mosques we visited were Sultanahmet (the Blue Mosque) and another that was built by Sinan. (He seems to be very popular with the Turkish, at least with our guides who spoke very highly of him.) I enjoyed each visit. Though they were the same/similar in some ways (architecturally speaking for example), they were also different in many ways; the artwork, the colours, the feeling. Interesting that in other mosques we women didn’t have to wear headscarves but the men had to cover up their knees. They looked pretty funny in their floral wraps. Some commented on one mosque being the same as the other but one can really say the same for Christian churches. They have similar structures, the main buiding shaped like a cross, pews all neatly in rows, altar at front...etc... and if they're Catholic they've all got the stations of the cross too.


I was intrigued by the women praying behind the screen that divides the men’s section from the women’s section. Our guide explained to us that in the Koran it only says men and women should pray separately. It’s the cultural traditions that keep the women segregated and hidden at the back. It too is what keeps some of them completely covered. Rina and Brigitte went to the bathroom at the spice bazaar yesterday and came back telling us the ritual the Muslim women went through to wash, undress, go to the bathroom (one of those whole in the floors with foot steps on either side you can balance yourself on and hope you don’t miss.), then they wash and dress again. We found ourselves watching them and noticed that they would watch us. We wondered what they must be thinking, saying, observing. They probably wonder what we’re thinking too. A couple of people we’ve talked too have noted how much the men respect their women. Larry thought that perhaps then the women should maybe be praying up in front of the men, if this is the case.