Turkey is located between Europe and Asia. Three
sides of Turkey have seashores. The Black Sea, The Aegean Sea, and The
Mediterranean Sea. Ninety-nine percent of the population are Muslim. Morals,
norms, and culture are affected by Islamic religion. The life style is
mixed with European life style. Actually Turkey has a very rich culture
because many different nationsl ive in Turkey. Turkey has many ancient
cities such as Ephesus, Bergama, and Cappadokia. In addition, Turkey has
many Ottoman remains such as Mosques, Ottoman Universities, Ottoman baths,
and museums. There are very rich and valuable museums in Turkey,
for example, The Topkapi Palace, Dolmabahce Palace, and The St.Sophia museum.
The most known Mosques are the Blue Mosque, the Bursa Ulu Mosque,
the Suleymaniye Mosque and the Dolmabahce Mosque.
Mosques are the symbol of the Islam. In Islamic religion, mosques are
very important. Every mosque has at least one Imam who manages the
prayer and one Imam’s assistant. There is a service, five times a day.
People can pray either at home or in the mosque. People have to meet at
least one time for a pray within a week in a Mosque. This special prayer
takes place only on Fridays at noontime.
Mosques are very clean places. Every section of the mosques is carpeted
and everybody has to walk without shoes. There are special shelves for
the shoes near the entrance. Every mosque has at least one Minaret, a tall
tower is a place that Imam’s assistant announces that it is prayer time
and invites them to the Mosque.In The Mosque there are two floors. The
First floor is for men and second floor is for women. Men and women pray
in separate places. The wall of the Mosques has unique art designs,
such as special Turkish motifs.
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