Sivas Çifte Minareli Medrese Gets Quake-Proofing Restoration
A 1271 Seljuk-era madrasa in Sivas is being restored to resist earthquakes.
The Çifte Minareli Medrese (Twin Minaret Madrasa) in Sivas is undergoing its second major restoration in recent decades. Officials say the work will make the 1271 building more resistant to earthquakes and protect its original tile decoration. An archaeological dig is also planned in the zaviye section to the south.
The details come from Mehmet Ali Çalışkan, regional director of Sivas Vakıflar (the Directorate of Foundations). The project belongs to the Culture and Tourism Ministry’s General Directorate of Foundations, which prepared the plan. SonDakika reported that work began in August.
What the Çifte Minareli Medrese restoration will do
Çalışkan said the priority is to improve the twin minarets’ resistance to earthquakes. The second aim is to conserve the original tile ornament. The medrese (a traditional Islamic school) is known for its monumental portal and its tiled minarets.
The zaviye is a dervish lodge or religious complex, and it lies south of the main building. Çalışkan said excavations there will uncover, document and protect historical remains. Officials also plan a visitor route over the remains, so the public can see them.
From a 13th-century school to a hospital and a primary school
According to the source, the Ilkhanid vizier Şemseddin Cüveyni commissioned the medrese in 1271. It taught hadith and tafsir, the study of the Prophet’s sayings and of Qur’anic commentary. Çalışkan described it as one of the finest examples of Seljuk art.
The building did not stay a school. By the late 19th century it was largely ruined. In 1882 the remains were cleared and a hospital was built on the site. The monumental entrance façade survived, and Çalışkan credited Halil Edhem Eldem’s efforts and supporting walls.
Later the site served as a military rüştiye (a state secondary school) and as İsmet Paşa Primary School. Those buildings were demolished in 1960. Excavations led by Prof. Dr. Haluk Karamağaralı from 1963 to 1965 then exposed the foundations and wall remains. A comprehensive restoration followed between 2008 and 2010.
Why Sivas’s historic square matters to history readers
The medrese stands in Sivas’s historic city square, where the source says works from three different periods can be seen. Viewers of Seljuk-era dramas such as Uyanış: Büyük Selçuklu may find such surviving buildings a useful real-world reference. The series itself is a dramatization, so it is not evidence for this building’s history.
The source gives no completion date or budget. The next confirmed step is the dig at the zaviye, which will show what remains below ground.
Source: SonDakika
Featured image: Maurice Flesier / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
