An opportunity of this description to visit the mosques generally offers itself several times in the course of a month.
I had made up my mind that it would be impossible to quit Constantinople without first seeing the four wonder-mosques, the Aja Sofia, Sultan Achmed, Osmanije, and Soleimanije.
I had the good fortune to obtain admittance on paying a very trifling sum; I think I should regret it to this day if I had paid five colonati for such a purpose.
To an architect these mosques are no doubt highly interesting; to a profane person like myself they offer little attraction.

Their principal beauty generally consists in the bold arches of the cupolas.

The interior is always empty, with the exception of a few large chandeliers placed at intervals, and furnished with a large number of perfectly plain glass lamps.

The marble floors are covered with straw mats.

In the Sofia mosque we find a few pillars which have been brought hither from Ephesus and Baalbec, and in a compartment on one side several sarcophagi are deposited.
Before entering the mosque, you must either take off your shoes or put on slippers over them.