All images © by Roberto Piperno, owner of the domain. Write to romapip@quipo.it.
Notes:
Page revised in February 2021.
All images © by Roberto Piperno, owner of the domain. Write to romapip@quipo.it.
Notes:
Page revised in February 2021.
You may wish to see an introductory page to this section or page one first.
There are at present within the precincts of Koniyeh
the remains of upwards of twenty madresehs (colleges),
a number nearly equal to that of Baghdad, the city of
the Khalifs themselves. Many of them are still held
in high estimation among the Mohammedans, and are
now, as formerly, the apologies for worse than monastic
indulgence and sloth. Under the name of students
in grammar, in law, and in theology, a host of idle and
ignorant pretenders receive from a variety of benefices,
the advantages of food, and dress, and the comforts of a
home for life.
William F. Ainsworth - Travels and Researches in Asia Minor, Mesopotamia, Chaldea, and Armenia - 1842
Buyuk Karatay Medrese (a detail of which is shown in the image used as background for this page)
One of the main aspects of Seljuk architecture is the size and decoration of medrese portals; these buildings had more importance than mosques and many sultans and local rulers promoted their construction. While in Ottoman architecture medrese are an ancillary part of a kulliye, a religious complex centred on a mosque (e.g. Suleymaniye), in the Seljuk one very often it is the reverse.
The Seljuks brought with them elements of the Persian cultural heritage and these were reinforced by immigrants who came from the East to flee the Mongol invasions. After having established the Sultanate of Rum they came into contact not only with Byzantine art, but also with the ruins of Hellenistic buildings. For this reason in Konya it is possible to see portals which reflect different cultural backgrounds. The portal of Karatay Medrese was built in 1251 and its design is very neat; it follows Syrian patterns in the use of white and dark stones, but the columns are of Byzantine origin.
Inci Minare Medrese (the Truncated Minaret Medrese) - originally Fahreddin Medrese
Amongst the many beautiful specimens of Saracenic architecture, none struck me so much as the Inci Minareh Djami, of which I attempted to make a sketch, but found it impossible to give a correct representation of the exquisite delicacy of the tracery, fretwork, and mouldings. Indeed, these remains of Arabic architecture are the chief objects of interest at Koniyeh in the present day.
William Hamilton - Researches in Asia Minor, Pontus and Armenia - 1842
Fahreddin Medrese was built in 1267, just a few years after Karatay Medrese and it is located at a very short distance from it; its design reveals an eastern influence; this could be a result of the fact that the Sultanate of Rum in the meantime had lost influence and had become a vassal of the Mongol Empire (Ilkhanate of Persia). It was flanked by a tall minaret (part of which fell in 1901) which was decorated with blue tiles.
Inci Minare Medrese - detail of its decoration
Elaborate inscriptions play a major role in the decoration of the portal, but perhaps its most striking feature is the couple of artichokes which fill the corners of the gigantic niche above the entrance. Greeks and Romans were familiar with artichokes, but probably they ate a variety of thistles. Artichokes as we know them today, were introduced in Italy (from Muslim countries) in the XVth century and from there they were brought to other European countries. The name has an Arab origin: Ardi Shoki (thorn of the ground).
It is likely artichokes were used for the portal decoration as a symbol of the difficulties (the thorns) of leading a pious life and of the reward (the edible flower) to which such a difficult path leads.
Hasbey dar ul Huffaz and detail of its portal
This mescit (small mosque) was part of a large complex (a hospice) built in 1421. It shows the way Seljuk architects linked domes with the square or octagonal structures which supported them. They did this by using sections of pyramids; later on Ottoman architects replaced these triangular surfaces with half domes.
Sircali Medrese and the iwan in its courtyard
Sircali Medrese was built in 1242: it included also the turbe of its founder. In the courtyard there is a large iwan decorated with blue tiles. Iwans are vaulted halls with one end entirely open. They were developed during the Sassanid Empire prior to the Arab conquest of Persia and they became a feature of Islamic architecture; one of their purposes was to provide a relatively cool place in summer: they usually faced north in order to be always in the shade: the high vault helped the movement of the air. On very hot days they were used as open air mosques. They are typical of Persia and Central Asia.
(left/centre) Sahip Ata Camii portal and minaret (1258); (right) Piri Pacha Camii
We passed by the remains of at least twenty mosques, with and without minarets, some of which were already out of the perpendicular; one of them, covered with variegated tiles and beautiful arabesque carvings, was of singular beauty, and its entrance very richly ornamented. The minarets, like many in Persia, are chiefly of glazed tiles and bricks of various colours, amongst which red and blue are predominant. Hamilton
The city was
sacked by Timour, but restored to its sultans. Karamania (which included Konya) did
not become an actual possession of the Osmanlis till the
time of Mohammed II. Ainsworth
Piri Pacha was an Ottoman admiral of the early XVIth century. One of the first Ottoman buildings of Konya
bears his name. It includes a kumbet, the typical mausoleum of the region.
Selimiye Camii
Ottoman Sultans held in great esteem the Mevlana Order. Sultan Selim II built a large mosque next to the complex housing the tomb of the founder of the order. It was built in 1558-1567 when the great architect Mimar Sinan supervised the construction of Ottoman public works. Similar to other mosques of the same period it is characterized by many domes (you may wish to compare it with the mosque Mimar Sinan built for Sultan Selim II at Edirne).
Serefeddin Camii
Serefeddin Camii provides a later example of Ottoman architecture in Konya. It was built in 1636 to replace a previous Seljuk mosque.
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Introductory page
Karaman
Mut and Alahan
On the Way to Nigde
Nigde
Kayseri
Cappadocia
Sivas
Divrigi