Erzurum's Two Madrasas, a Masterclass in Stone Ornament

Two madrasas around Cumhuriyet Caddesi

In the historic centre of Erzurum, two stone buildings are counted among the structures that best explain the city's identity: the Çifte Minareli Madrasa and the Yakutiye Madrasa. The Ministry of Culture and Tourism's Kültür Portalı gives the same directions for both. They can be reached on foot along the Cumhuriyet Caddesi route in the city centre, and public transport serves them from every part of the city. In this guidance the street name is only an address detail. The real subject is the two different architectural ideas that stand around it. The official page gives the address of the Çifte Minareli Madrasa as the Tebriz Kapı quarter and that of the Yakutiye Madrasa as Yakutiye. Before you set out, a quick look at a map application for the walking time is enough.

It makes sense to visit the two buildings on the same day, one after the other. One has an open courtyard and the other a covered one. Seeing two very different solutions side by side, in the same city and the same stone tradition, teaches more than visiting each in isolation. As for light, it is enough to say that the reliefs on the portals read better in side light. Looking at the facade at an angle around midday or in the afternoon helps you see the depth of the ornament. Which building opens at what hour is current information. Learn the opening arrangements not from this text but from the official pages cited below.

What is a madrasa

A madrasa, in Selçuk and later periods in Anatolia, is an educational building that gathers student and teacher rooms around a courtyard. The plan scheme is simple, but in practice it yields very different results. If the courtyard is open to the sky the building is called an open-courtyard madrasa, and if it is covered by a dome or vault it is called a covered-courtyard madrasa. The Kültür Portalı text presents the Çifte Minareli as an important example of the group of two-storey, four-iwan, open-courtyard madrasas. The TDV İslam Ansiklopedisi writes that the courtyard of the Yakutiye belongs to the group of covered madrasas.

Kültür Portalı lists both buildings among the important Seljuk madrasas of Sivas, Konya, Kayseri, Erzurum and Kırşehir. For that reason the pair in Erzurum is a good opportunity to see Anatolian madrasa architecture comparatively in a single city. An iwan is a vaulted hall that opens onto the courtyard, closed on three sides and open on one. The easiest way to read a madrasa plan is to count the courtyard and the iwans and find the axis of the building. Keep in mind that the sources give different counts for some details. For the Yakutiye, for example, the TDV speaks of three iwans and Kültür Portalı of four. So rather than state a number with confidence, we prefer to note the difference between the sources on this point.

Plan and dimensions of the Çifte Minareli Madrasa

According to Kültür Portalı the Çifte Minareli Madrasa is a Seljuk work that has become the symbol of Erzurum. The general view is that it was built in the late thirteenth century. The sources are not firm on who commissioned it. It is thought that it may have been built by Hundi Hatun, daughter of the Seljuk Sultan Alaaddin Keykubat, or by Padişah Hatun of the Ilkhanid dynasty, which is why the building is also called the Hatuniye Madrasa. We take no side in this debate and only note where the name comes from.

The madrasa measures roughly 35 by 46 metres and has two storeys. Its courtyard measures 26 by 10 metres and is surrounded by arcades on four sides. Student and teacher rooms line both sides of the courtyard. There are nineteen rooms on the ground floor and eighteen on the first floor. To the south, joined to the main iwan, rises a tomb tower with a twelve-sided body. Covered with a cone on the outside and a dome inside, we note it only as an architectural element. Sitting in the courtyard and watching the arcades, arches and room doors is the best way to understand the educational function of the building.

Stone and glazed brick on the portal and minarets

The most discussed feature of the Çifte Minareli is its portal. Kültür Portalı notes that it holds outstanding examples of the depth and aesthetic sense of Seljuk stone ornament. The decoration is mostly vegetal. Palmettes and rumi motifs are the most frequent, and the two run side by side in harmony. On the western side of the portal are worked a double-headed eagle, two snakes with open mouths and a tree of life of lobed leaves. The symmetrical part on the eastern side has no leaf or eagle carving. This difference is one of the most interesting details you notice when you look carefully at the facade. To compare the two sides, it is enough to step a little away from the door and take both in the same frame.

The minarets rising on either side of the portal have shafts built of glazed brick and brick, decorated with motifs. They are 26 metres tall. We make no comment on the inscription on the minarets. In terms of colour and material, it is enough to see the contrast that turquoise glaze creates against the warm tone of the stone. This facade, in which stone and glazed brick are used together, keeps its texture even in the snow light of Erzurum's winter months. If you are photographing, keep the wide angle for the whole portal and the close shot for a single motif.

The covered courtyard of the Yakutiye Madrasa

The plan is different at the Yakutiye Madrasa. Kültür Portalı writes that the building was commissioned in 1310, in the reign of the Ilkhanid ruler Sultan Olcaytu, in the name of Gazan Han and Bolugan Hatun, by Hoca Yakut Gazani. The TDV İslam Ansiklopedisi, relying on the single-line inscription above the portal, gives the date as 1310-11. Since both sources point to the same years, we can speak about the date of construction with caution but comfortably. The building is of cut stone, rectangular in plan and of a single storey.

At the centre of the interior is a rectangular courtyard. According to Kültür Portalı the middle part of the courtyard is covered by a dome with muqarnas, and the other parts by pointed-arch barrel vaults. The TDV notes that in the central space, arcade arches resting on four thick piers carry the richly ornamented muqarnas vault. Standing under the dome and tilting your head back is one of the most striking moments of the madrasa. Muqarnas is a decorative technique in which stone is divided into small stepped cells that catch the light. Barrel-vaulted rooms line the two sides of the courtyard. According to Kültür Portalı, the rooms of students and teachers were assigned by class and rank, so a different carving catches the eye at the entrance of each room.

Portal and figural ornament

The facade of the Yakutiye stands out with a portal projecting outward. The TDV describes in detail the high-relief borders, with muqarnas, geometric and vegetal ornament, that surround the door on three sides. Palmettes, rumi and curling branches are the main language of the borders. On the side faces, in niches framed by a moulded arch, a tree with large leaves rises from a geometric vase. On either side of the tree is a lion-panther figure, and above it a double-headed eagle is carved. The TDV says that the bodies of the panthers are worked in spiral curls and their faces with eyes and teeth. Kültür Portalı presents this whole as a tree of life that brings together important symbols of the Central Asian Turks.

The minaret question is also interesting. There are two minaret bases at the corners of the facade, but only the one on the south side still stands. The TDV writes that this shaft carries woven geometric ornament made of turquoise and purple glazed brick, and that its collapsed upper part is closed with a lead cap. There are differing views on whether the other minaret was demolished after being built or never built at all. Kültür Portalı mentions the same possibility. The asymmetry of the facade is therefore not a defect but an open question in the building's history.

The later lives of the buildings

Neither madrasa remained only an educational building across the centuries. Kültür Portalı notes that the Çifte Minareli, repaired by the Ottoman sultan Murad IV while in ruins, was used for a time as an arsenal. According to the same source, the building served as the Erzurum Museum between 1942 and 1967. For the Yakutiye, the TDV writes, based on sources, that it long remained inside the new barracks built in 1877-1879. The building was used for many years as a cannon foundry, and in the 1970s military units were stationed around it. During this period the building remained idle for a long time.

According to Kültür Portalı, the Yakutiye was restored in 1995. Today both work as museums and receive visitors. This long life also shows how flexible a building the madrasa is as a plan. A large courtyard, solid walls and easily divided rooms adapt to very different functions such as storage, workshop or exhibition hall. Thinking about these layers while you visit lets you look at the stone surfaces with a different eye.

Visiting them as museums today

The Yakutiye Madrasa is now used as the Turkish and Islamic Works and Ethnography Museum. Kültür Portalı introduces a few of the works displayed in the museum. One is a bracelet with agate stones, dated to the 19th and 20th centuries. Another is a wooden writing set whose entire surface is decorated with mother-of-pearl inlaid floral motifs. A vessel in the form of an animal and a human, known as a rhyton and glazed bright green, is important as the only known example in Anatolia. Finally, a tombak basin and ewer set, dated to the 18th and 19th centuries and worked with blue, green and navy enamels, is also in the display. These pieces are good starting points for walking the courtyard of the madrasa once more with an eye on the objects.

According to a news item from the General Directorate of Foundations, the Çifte Minareli Madrasa opened on 2 July 2021 as the Çifte Minareli Foundation Museum. The directorate reports that 90 historic works, among them manuscripts, calligraphic panels, candlesticks, carpets, kilims and clocks, restored and conserved, are on display. Kültür Portalı, meanwhile, says that the building serves today as both a museum and a painting exhibition hall. There is certainly a difference between these two sources, since one describes the opening in 2021 and the other the general function. We could not confirm the current visiting status of the Çifte Minareli from an official page for this text. For that reason we recommend that you check the visiting status on the official pages before you go. For opening hours and entry conditions, see muze.gov.tr, vgm.gov.tr and erzurum.ktb.gov.tr.

UNESCO Tentative List and protection

According to Kültür Portalı both madrasas were added in 2014 to the UNESCO World Heritage Tentative List under the title Anatolian Seljuk Madrasas. A tentative list is the preliminary stage at which a site is first registered before it can be nominated to the permanent list. This listing alone is not a guarantee of protection, but it shows that the buildings are regarded as important at an international scale. The madrasas of Sivas, Konya, Kayseri and Kırşehir are also under the same title. Visiting the two buildings in Erzurum therefore also means seeing one of the eastern ends of a wider network of madrasas in Anatolia.

Short notes before you go

Approach the walk that links the two buildings at an easy pace. Looking closely at the portals and lingering in the courtyards and rooms takes time. Do not touch the reliefs on the stone, and follow the railings and signs. All these buildings are protected cultural assets. For changeable information such as opening hours and fees, check only the official pages. The weather in Erzurum is harsh. Dressing warmly and choosing shoes that do not slip on stone floors is a good idea, especially in the cold season.

Sources

• Kültür Portalı, Çifte Minareli Medrese, https://www.kulturportali.gov.tr/turkiye/erzurum/gezilecekyer/cifte-minareli-medrese
• Kültür Portalı, Yakutiye Medresesi Türk İslam Eserleri ve Etnografya Müzesi, https://www.kulturportali.gov.tr/turkiye/erzurum/gezilecekyer/yakutiye-medresesi
• TDV İslam Ansiklopedisi, Yakutiye Medresesi ve Kümbeti, https://islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/yakutiye-medresesi-ve-kumbeti
• Vakıflar Genel Müdürlüğü, Çifte Minareli Medrese müze olarak tekrar ziyarete açıldı, https://www.vgm.gov.tr/haberler/cifte-minareli-medrese--muze-olarak-tekrar-ziyarete-acildi