These are photos I took while visiting the Merkez Camii (Central Mosque) here in Adana. Though it is newly built (late '80s, I believe), it is esquisitely beautiful and absolutely gigantic. It is one of Adana's best known landmarks, and it's surrounded by a huge and beautiful park. To one side of it is the Taşköprü, or Stone Bridge, which is the oldest bridge still used in the world today.
To go into the mosque, everyone takes off their shoes (or covers them with special plastic, disposable shoe covers in the winter), and women must cover their heads with a scarf. This is the only mosque in the city that tourists really go to; in any other mosque (and there are a lot) it would be strange for tourists to enter, as they are usually filled with old men, especially at prayer times.
Every day, five times a day, the call to prayer sounds out from the minarets of every mosque. I've grown quite fond of the sound. In smaller towns, many shops close at prayer time, though here in Adana, at least in the areas I frequent, that doesn't appear to happen.
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