Great Mosque and Hospital of Divriği

The Divriği Great Mosque and Hospital stands as a Mengücekid complex in the Divriği district of Sivas, built on an artificial terrace at the south-western foot of the castle. The group of mosque, hospital (darüşşifa) and tomb was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1985.

Behind plain outer walls, the surprise lies in four carved portals, each unlike the others, and in the vault systems inside. UNESCO counts it among the most beautiful built spaces of Islamic architecture.

Location

The Culture Portal gives the address as Kale neighbourhood in Divriği, reached from the Kangal-Divriği junction at km 96 of the Sivas-Malatya road, 80 km away. The Sivas provincial culture and tourism directorate's inventory places the complex on an artificial terrace in the south-west of the castle and names the General Directorate of Foundations as the body responsible for its upkeep. The coordinates on this page come from Wikidata.

History

According to ICOMOS, Divriği fell to the Turks after 1071, was given to Mengücek Bey in 1118 and was ruled by the Mengücekids almost without interruption until the Mongol occupation of 1277. The rectangular ensemble from that first Turkish period measures 64 by 32 m in ICOMOS's description.

UNESCO and ICOMOS say the emir Ahmed Shah founded the mosque in 1228-1229. The adjoining hospital was founded by his wife Turan Melek; UNESCO names the architect Hurrem Shah and ICOMOS Hurremshah of Ahlat, adding that the two buildings were raised at the same time by the same architect. The Culture Portal likewise credits the mosque to Ahmet Şah, son of Süleyman Şah, and the hospital to Turan Melek. A DergiPark article calls the architect Hürremşah of Ahlat, son of Muîs, and notes that this is regarded as his only known work. ICOMOS thinks a fourth opening on the east side dates from about 1241.

Main features

The Great Mosque

The prayer hall has five naves of five bays each, roofed with stone vaults. Outside, the hexagonal dome with a pointed roof above the mihrab dominates, and a second cupola rises over the ablution basin. ICOMOS considers each of the sixteen surviving vaults a remarkable technical feat. The Sivas inventory describes a strongly relief-carved mihrab and, to its right, an ebony pulpit by master Ahmet of Tiflis, and says the minaret dates from the reign of Suleiman the Magnificent. UNESCO and ICOMOS stress that the mosque has no courtyard, colonnades or open ablution basin; all religious functions are gathered in one enclosed space.

The hospital

UNESCO writes that the hospital is entered through a monumental portal on the west into a double-height atrium on four massive piers around a central pool. The Sivas inventory adds that the central space is vaulted by three parallel vaults on four columns and that there are four iwans, one of them at the entrance. ICOMOS notes a layout allowing both isolation and shared communal life.

The portals

The Culture Portal says the hospital portal, the mosque's north and west portals and the Şah Mahfili portal each carry different decoration and that none of tens of thousands of motifs repeats. ICOMOS reports paradoxical comparisons of the three high portals with Khmer and Gothic monuments, and suggests the architect drew on contemporary Armenian and Georgian motifs. The Sivas inventory records views describing the portals as Baroque, textile-like, Seljuk and Gothic.

Repairs and protection

UNESCO says inscriptions show intensive restoration between the 15th and 19th centuries, with 20th-century work against material decay and structural problems. The Sivas inventory records repairs lasting a long time before the Second World War and intermittently after 1950. The Kayseri Conservation Council gave the complex monumental-building status in 1989, and a protection zone surrounds it. After expropriations started in 2009 under the governor, several nearby buildings were demolished. UNESCO notes the stone ornament is vulnerable to atmosphere, humidity and salt, and the building to drainage problems.

World Heritage

Inscribed in 1985 under criteria (i) and (iv), the complex is assessed by UNESCO as a unique artistic achievement of Islamic architecture and an outstanding Seljuk-period mosque in Anatolia.

Visiting

For hours and visiting conditions consult the Sivas provincial directorate and the General Directorate of Foundations; this page gives no opening times or fees.