Cifte Minareli Medrese

A religious school of the late thirteenth century, the best-known building in Erzurum and one of the largest monuments of Seljuk architecture in Anatolia. The name translates as 'the madrasa with two minarets': above the entrance portal rise two brick shafts covered with turquoise tiles and vertical ribs. The portal is hewn from light stone and covered all over with carving - vegetal ornament, palmettes, paired dragons and a double-headed eagle on either side of the tree of life, a motif more pre-Islamic than Muslim. Inside is a courtyard on two tiers, surrounded by galleries on massive piers, along which run the students' cells. At the far end stands a domed tomb, a kumbet, by tradition intended for the daughter of a Seljuk sultan. The building was never finished: the work was interrupted by the Mongol invasion, and the second tier of galleries breaks off in places. There is a museum inside now, with an entrance fee.

Address

Eski Bat Pazarı Caddesi, Rabia Ana Mahallesi, Erzurum

On the map