The Sultan Ahmed Mosque is an historical mosque in Istanbul; the largest city in Turkey and the capital of the Ottoman Empire (from 1453 to 1923). The mosque is popularly known as the Blue Mosque for the blue tiles adorning the walls of its interior.

It was built from 1609 to 1616; during the rule of Ahmed I. Like many other mosques; it also comprises a tomb of the founder; a madrassa and a hospice.

Although tulips are generally associated with the Netherlands; commercial cultivation of the flower began in the Ottoman Empire. The tulip; or lale (from Persian ????; l鈒eh) as it is also called in Iran and Turkey; is a flower indigenous to a vast area encompassing arid parts of Africa; Asia; and Europe. The word tulip; which earlier appeared in English in forms such as tulipa or tulipant; entered the language by way of French tulipe and its obsolete form tulipan or by way of Modern Latin tulipa; from Ottoman Turkish t黮bend.