Divriği Mosque
Divriği Mosque and Hospital , in Turkish Divriği Ulu Camii ve Darüşşifa , is a complex of buildings built by a ruler of the Mengücek dynasty in the small town of Divriği in the Turkish province of Sivas during the Seljuk period in Anatolia in 1228/29 . After its founder Ahmet Shah also Ahmet Camii Shah called mosque is connected to the same time of Turan Melek, presumably his wife, founded the hospital.
One or two centuries after completion, in the early Ottoman period, the hospital was converted into a madrasa . The extremely lively vegetal and geometric ornaments on the portals, on the minbar and inside the hospital represent a synthesis of Seljuk and Christian- Armenian building traditions. The entire complex can be seen from afar on the upper edge of the city and is one of the most important medieval buildings in Anatolia.
In 1985, she was included in the World Heritage List of UNESCO added.
history
Divriği was on the western edge of a contiguous cultural region that stretched from Transcaucasia and Persia to Anatolia. The mosque and hospital owe their design to the artistic sense of several Mengücek rulers, who were able to maintain their small principality ( Beylik ) for almost 100 years with diplomatic negotiating skills surrounded by more powerful Seljuk sub-empires. The dynasty founder Mengücek Gazi probably came to Anatolia as a Turkish military leader in the service of the Seljuk ruler Alp Arslan and was tasked with securing the territories conquered in the Battle of Manzikert in 1071. Mengücek's power base was mainly in Kemah from around 1080 , his area encompassed the upper Euphrates between Divriği further in the west and Erzincan in the east. After the death of his successor Malik İshak, his three sons were assigned the three main places as independent domains.
In the second half of the 12th century, Kemah was captured by Erzincan. Under the longest reigning ruler of Erzincan, Fahrettin Behramschah (Fakhr al-Dīn Bahrāmšāh, ruled 1162 or 1165-1225), the economy and culture flourished. He maintained good diplomatic relations with the Seljuks, who became the most powerful dynasty in Anatolia after the annexation of the Danishmenden areas and the victory over the Byzantines in the 1170s. Behramshah is recognized in historiography as a patron of the arts and a social benefactor. The Persian-writing poet Nezāmi dedicated the verse epic Machzan ol-Asrār ("Treasure of Secrets") to Behramschah and the Seljuk historian Ibn Bibi praised him as the rare case of a just and benevolent ruler. In 1228, the same year that the mosque complex in Divriği was completed, the Seljuks ended the line of succession to the dynasty ruling in Erzincan. From this time on, there was only a small Mengücek empire in Divriği without actual power until the Mongolian Ilkhan took control of the area after the middle of the 13th century . The principality of Divriği is not mentioned in the historiography of this time; that it continued to exist after the end of Erzincan is only proven by inscriptions on the mosque, on other buildings in the city and by a few coin finds.
The Naschī founding inscription of the mosque above the main portal on the north facade names Ahmetschah (ruled around 1229 - after 1242), the son of Suleymanah (ruled around 1197 - around 1229), and the year 626 AH (1228/29 AD ) as the founder . Chr.): “The construction of this great mosque was ordered (out of love for Allah) by the servant who is in need of the mercy of Allah, Ahmetschah, the son of Suleyman Shah. Allah perpetuate his kingdom. In the year 626. “The inscription for the then Seljuk Sultan Kai Kobad I (ʿAlāʾ ad-Dīn Kai-Qubād, ruled 1220–1237) in the top of the arch was less elaborate and represents a concession to the Seljuk supremacy Entrance to the hospital is mentioned in the founding inscription from the same year of the "just queen" ( al-malika al-adila ) Turan Malik. She was the daughter of Behramshah and presumably - without confirmation from a written source - the wife of Ahmetschah. Three more inscriptions by Ahmetschah in the next two decades confirm his continued rule. Two inscriptions on the citadel are dated 1236/37 and 1242/43. In an inscription on the minbar of the mosque from 1240/41, in contrast to the founding inscription, Ahmetschah is mentioned with long honorary titles, but this time there is no homage to the Seljuk supremacy. This also reflects the power relations and considerations of that time within the dynasty. Three years after the death of Bahramshah and in the same year when the family dynasty in Erzincan was dissolved by the Seljuks, the founding inscription seemed to be cautious. Two small inscriptions from 1228 on both sides of the north portal are similarly modest. In them, an unnamed ruler ( malik ) is formally praised and the popular throne verse of the Koran is quoted. Similarly cautious is an inscription on the east portal of the mosque, which is presumably reserved for the nobility, according to which rule ( al-mulk ) is exercised by God alone. In Turan Malik's founding inscription, no Seljuk supremacy is granted, presumably this was not necessary because a hospital was considered less politically important and more symbolic than a Friday mosque .
Erzincan's reputation as a city of culture also attracted the famous scholar Abd al-Latif al-Baghdadi (1163-1231) from Baghdad . After working in Cairo, Damascus and Jerusalem, Latif lived in Erzincan for a few years. When Kai Kobad annexed the city in 1228, he traveled back to Baghdad via Kemah, Divriği, Malatya and Aleppo . Latif stayed in Divriği from April to June 1229, when the mosque was just finished. Possibly he had planned to stay and teach in Divriği, because in an Ottoman source from 1530 Turan Malik is also mentioned as the founder of a madrasa that no longer exists today . In the 1230s to 1250s Divriği remained a culturally significant place that attracted educated people from far away, as can be seen from their Nisbas (place of origin as part of their name). The latest Mengücek inscription, dated October 7, 1252, was attached to the citadel and was written by Melik Salih (Malik al-Ṣāliḥ, ruled after 1242 - after 1252), the son and successor of Ahmetschah. In one of the following years the Seljuks took Divriği.
builder
According to differences in style, several workshops must have been involved in the construction of the complex. Ahmed ibn Ibrahim from the Georgian city of Tbilisi and Churramschah ibn Mullit from Ahlat on Lake Van are known as builders . The latter was presumably an Armenian. Tbilisi had been under the control of Arab Muslims since the Abbasid period in the 8th century, and from 1122 the city was again under Georgian rule. The occupation by the Choresmians in 1226 is likely to have drastically changed the social and cultural conditions. It is therefore understandable that a master builder like Ahmed looked around for another place of work and was attracted by an offer from Divriği. It is not possible to determine which creative character he brought with him from Tbilisi. Medieval Tbilisi was famous for its conifer architecture, which may have influenced the extremely fine wood ornamentation on the minbar.
The influence of the medieval architecture of Ahlat (then Khilāt) is to be assessed better. Although a large part of the city was destroyed in an earthquake in 1275/76, hundreds of tombstones remained, most of which were erected between the 12th and 14th centuries. The high quality ornaments give an impression of the lost architecture. The oldest of these grave stelae, some of which are taller than a man, from the last two decades of the 12th century show stylized geometric ornaments, which were supplemented by delicate geometric star patterns at the beginning of the new century. The tombstones of Ahlat follow the tradition of the Armenian khachkar ("cross stone") memorial stelae , which were made in the Armenian regions of Anatolia and Transcaucasia from the 9th century. By means of the dates on the tombstones of Ahlat, a clear decline in production can be ascertained in the 1220s, which is obviously related to the incursion of the Choresmians under the leadership of Jalal ad-Din Mengübirti in 1226 and 1229. Most of Ahlat's grave steles bear the signature of their creator, a sign of their individuality and appreciation as masters ( ustad ). Most of the craftsmen were organized in a futuwwa (urban brotherhood), which from the 13th to the 15th century in Anatolia offered a social network and provided mutual support, especially in troubled times. During the first siege and subsequent destruction of the city - possibly through connections within the futtuwa - some of the stone carvers were probably looking for clients in a distant, safe region and thus found their way to Divriği.
After completion
In the 14th or 15th century, no more sick people were cared for, the hospital was converted into an Islamic educational institution ( madrasa ) and was now called Medrese-i Kübrâ ("Great Madrasa"). This emerges from Ottoman tax documents ( tahrir defterleri ) from 1519 and 1530, which contain accounts of the foundations ( waqf ) belonging to the mosque , including their assets and the expenses for services.
By the beginning of the 16th century, a larger area of the west facade and possibly the adjacent north facade must have collapsed for static reasons. A solid cylindrical support structure was added to brace the northwest corner, which also serves as the base for a newly built minaret . On the base is the inscription "... built under the rule of Suleyman I ... by Ibrahim, Ahmed's son, between 1523 and 1533." There are no other written sources for this conversion.
In the 19th century the mosque was used as a barn to store hay. After a restoration around 1900, the treasures of Topkapı Sarayı , which were supposed to be brought to safety from a German invasion , were kept in it for a certain time during the Second World War . The building has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1985. Today the mosque is once again fulfilling its original purpose as a Friday mosque . There is also the restored, but mostly closed, mosque in the castle ruins and a smaller, simple mosque from around 1900 in the city center. The building complex is open to visitors during the day.
architecture
The 63 meter × 32 meter building rectangle extends in a north-south direction. In the south, the hospital takes up about a third of the floor space, its only entrance is on the west side. The north wall of the hospital is also the qibla wall of the mosque. Its basilical prayer room is divided into five aisles by four rows of pillars, with the central nave being significantly wider than the two aisles. From the main entrance in the north, the view falls through the middle row of pillars onto the central mihrab . The second entrance leads from the west wall into the space between the middle pair of pillars.
The walls are made of yellow-brown, carefully hewn blocks in constant stone heights of about 40 centimeters. The length of the cuboid varies between 40 and 100 centimeters.
North portal
The rectangular structure of the north portal protruding from the wall ( Kuzey Taç-Kapısı, "Northern Crown Gate") is the only one that towers above the eaves and represents the dominant element of the entire facade design. Its contours and the internal structure are geometrically and partially fully plastic Floral ornaments emerging from the surface dissolved. The central basic structure is a pointed arch, represented by a round edge, which is jumped over by plant tendrils in several places. The surfaces up to the outer edge are littered with large-format fantasy leaf shapes that can be interpreted as a tree of life motif .
A sloping surface with rosettes and diamonds in between leads inward to a second level from which the portal niche is deepened. This tapers upwards over a series of cornices and ends in short muqarnas . A round bead runs in the rectangle, counter to the depth graduation, from the outer edge along the side walls of the niche and across the door. The lattice-like bulge shapes within this frame also take no account of the various spatial areas. The founding inscription above the door looks powerful and is emphasized by the frame. The sequence of frames and cornices in the niche reduce the height of the muqarnas in other Seljuk portals.
The outer edge of the portal takes up pilaster-like round shapes, which widen in the middle in multiple sections, starting from a two-tier muqarnas capital that seems to float freely, as it is only supported by a thin column. Almost all of the surfaces are filled with ornaments in a baroque style. The ornamental shapes testify to extraordinary creative power and craftsmanship, but there is a lack of harmony between the individual elements, which seem to stand in each other's way due to their overlapping in some places.
West portal of the mosque
The west portal ( Bati Taç-Kapısı, "Western Crown Gate") looks finer and more modest, it emerges from the facade at an oblique angle, but does not protrude above it. A special feature is the high, multiple stepped plinth zone. In contrast to the north portal, a clear design with rectangular frames staggered one behind the other determines the overall impression. It contains ribbons with small-scale geometric ornaments, which are unique in their artistic design and arrangement within Seljuk architecture. They refer to Armenian book illustrations as they were made at the time in the residence of the Catholicos of Rum Kalesi on the Euphrates near the Syrian border and elsewhere in Cilicia . Such portals often included a Eusebian canon .
The ornaments are executed in bas-relief and cover the entire surface without any free space, so that the only slight recesses of the frame create the effect of a closed carpet-like pattern. The band directly surrounding the muqarnas niche consists of lily-like patterns flowing into one another , similar to those seen in an Armenian manuscript.
The inner door frame, which is about twice as high, is extended further upwards by a round arch. Circular segments with exotic tendril ornaments lead from the rectangular frame into the round end ( archivolt ), from which a spherical peg hangs down in the middle as the only fully plastic design element. At the side of the entrance are two unequal columns, decorated according to early Islamic models.
The sloping wall surfaces on the outside of the portal porch end in the lower area in pointed muqarnas niches. Ornamental stones, each showing a double-headed bird of prey, and a single-headed bird on the wall facade on the left side, are inserted into the side wall surfaces below. These elegant forms suggest a comparison with the Indian cultural area, for example with the reliefs on the temple of Banteay Srei .
It is precisely the asymmetrical arrangement of individual decorative motifs that allows the conclusion that the west portal was also affected by the collapse of the northwestern mosque area and was rebuilt at a later date using spoils from this or another building from the Mengücek period. It would be fitting that the inscription above the portal speaks of an "original construction". As there are no dated inscriptions, it is not possible to classify the later renovation in time.
Portal of the hospital
Two mighty pointed arches staggered one behind the other over lateral bundle pillars consisting of several half-columns create the spatial depth of the hospital portal ( Şifahane-Taç-Kapısı , “hospital crown gate”). The pillars stand on flat plinths that protrude forward from the wall surface. In the inner arch, the vertical half-columns continue upwards as edge bulges, the stripes in between are unadorned. In contrast, the outer arch is emphasized by three ornamental strips on the outer edge. Two relief heads can be seen at the bottom left between the two pillars; the builders may have been depicted here.
At the beginning of the outer arch, teardrop-shaped formations, which develop from below from three-tier muqarnas, protrude almost freely on each side. A little lower hang on the inner arch tondos with a star pattern, they correspond to rosettes filled with leafy tendrils on the back wall. The back arch field ( bezel ) is filled with strict five-pointed stars. An unusual, elaborately decorated column that divides a rectangular window under the arched area in the middle deserves attention. The two upper corners of the rectangular back wall at the level of the window are filled with bas-reliefs in tendril patterns, of which neither the shapes nor the positioning are related to the window or to the other decorations. A square field under the window is filled with octagonal patterns of two different sizes. More complex tendril ornaments can be found in wide vertical stripes next to the door.
Mosque hall
The four octagonal pillars in each row are connected by tapered belt arches and have domes of different shapes and sizes. Five-aisled mosques were more common in Seljuk times, but they were seldom so clearly aligned in the longitudinal axis as was done here by the wider central nave. Of the total of 16 pillars, the four central ones carry a raised dome, which just overlooks the roof with an octagonal, windowed attachment ( drum ). Most of the daylight falls through this roof structure, which is now covered with corrugated iron over a wooden structure, into the prayer room. During the most recent restoration, some other structures of the previous flat roof disappeared under the protective corrugated iron roof, the high windows of the drum had to be reduced in size and moved upwards. It is very likely that there was originally a dome with a central opening in the ceiling (“snow depot” because snow fell in) over the drum. Exactly underneath there used to be a water basin on the floor, both are a reminder of the older blueprint for the courtyard mosque. The other, differently designed vaults are similar to Armenian roof forms from the same period.
The largest domed area is the maqsūra directly in front of the mihrab . A transept in front of the qibla wall in the same width as the longitudinal central nave created the only square ceiling field with a high dome at this important point of the mosque, which is surmounted on the outside by an octagonal pyramid roof based on the model of a Persian tomb ( Gonbad ). The vault is constructed from twelve cross ribs that extend from gussets.
The mihrab, framed by two mighty bulges, is spatially related to the north portal and adopts a number of decorative forms from there, such as the complex capitals protruding on the side edges. The wooden minbar next to it is dated 1240/41 and contains a popular star decoration. It is one of the finest mosque pulpits in the medieval Islamic world
A later (around 1241) built-in opening on the east wall in the field in front of the Qibla wall gives cause for speculation. The east side of the mosque is built across the slope, so that the lower edge of this opening is on the outside and clearly above ground level on the inside. Either there was a window here to light up the otherwise dark qibla wall, or it was - more likely - an exclusive access for the nobles who came in from their palace in the citadel and via a wooden walkway directly onto a gallery reserved for them (Turkish mahfil, Arabic dikka ). As a result, the entrance was named Şah-Mahfili-Taç Kapısı . According to a dendrochronological investigation, at least parts of the Mahfil date from around 1240, i.e. they are at the same time as the Minbar. In a comparable location on the slope, a five-aisled wooden pillar mosque in Ankara , the Arslahane Cami from the end of the 13th century, has a higher main entrance opposite the mihrab, which leads to a wooden balcony. Outside, the east gate is designed with a muqarnas niche typical of the Seljuk period, which is tapered to a point and is surrounded by a high rectangular frame with two ribbons in bas-relief.
hospital
The small entrance door leads through an anteroom, from which two side rooms lead off, into an approximately 13 × 14.5 meter large hall, which, like the mosque, is lit in the middle through the windows of a high drum. According to the plan of a Persian four Ivan -Baus a wide open space (located opposite the entrance to the east side Ivan ) having a ribbed vault which is delimited by a high transverse arch of the hall. Together with the two smaller ivans to the north and south and the vestibule, a cruciform plan is created. The semicircular side wall fields of the east sofa are filled with fan shapes formed from hollows. Larger rooms in the outer corners and smaller ones on both sides of the Iwane on the long sides complete the plan. They can all be entered through doors from the central hall.
The northeast side room is connected to the mosque by a second door in the qibla wall. On the outside it is identified by a pyramid-shaped roof structure. Among the dozen or so sarcophagi in this room, those of the donors should also be found. Opposite, in the south-west corner of the hall, a steep stone staircase leads up to an upper floor, which is limited to the area above the south Iwan to above the adjoining room to the right of the entrance.
literature
- Volker Eid : East Turkey. Peoples and cultures between Taurus and Ararat . DuMont, Cologne 1990, pp. 101-104, ISBN 3-7701-1455-8 .
- Vera and Hellmut Hell: Turkey. Northern Turkey, Eastern Turkey, Southeast Turkey. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart a. a., 3rd ed. 1988, pp. 27-29.
- Thomas Alexander Sinclair: Eastern Turkey: An Architectural and Archaeological Survey. Vol. II. The Pindar Press, London 1989, pp. 396-400.
- Traugott Wöhrlin: Divriği. On the way to Turkish mysticism in stone . Dr. Ludwig Reichert Verlag Wiesbaden 2013 ISBN 978-3-89500-981-5 .
Web links
- Entry on the UNESCO World Heritage Center website ( English and French ).
- Great Mosque and Hospital of Divriği. ArchNet
- Oya Pancaroğlu: The Mosque-Hospital Complex in Divriği: A History of Relations and Transitions. Anadolu Kültür Varlıklarını Araştırma Derneği (AKVAD), Ankara 2009, pp. 169–198
- Ömür Bakirer: “The Story of Three Graffiti”. In Muqarnas: An Annual on the Visual Culture of the Islamic World, XVI, 1999, pp. 42-69
- Mosque-hospital of Divrigi. Qantara
Individual evidence
- ^ Reigns according to: Clifford Edmund Bosworth: The New Islamic Dynasties: A Chronological and Genealogical Manual. (New Edinburgh Islamic Surveys) 2nd ed. Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh 2004, p. 109, ISBN 978-0-7486-2137-8
- ↑ Oath, p. 102
- ↑ Pancaroğlu, pp. 172-178
- ↑ Pancaroğlu, pp. 184-189
- ↑ Mosque-hospital of Divrigi. ( Memento of the original from August 19, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Qantara
- ↑ Pancaroğlu, p. 170; Sinclair, p. 396
- ↑ Bakirer, p. 43
- ↑ Sinclair, S. 399f, Eid, p 102
- ↑ Sinclair, p. 399; Oath, p. 103
- ↑ Pancaroğlu, p 170
- ↑ Hell, p. 29
- ↑ Sinclair, S. 398f
- ↑ media.routledgeweb.com ( Memento of the original from March 25, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (Floor plan and model without corrugated iron roof; PDF; 348 kB)
- ↑ Pancaroğlu, p 185
- ↑ Sinclair, pp. 396-398
- ↑ Pancaroğlu, p. 170, footnote 5
- ^ Sinclair, p. 396
Heritage: Historic Areas of Istanbul (1985) | Divriği Great Mosque and Hospital (1985) | Ḫattuša - capital of the Hittites (including the Yazılıkaya rock sanctuary ) (1986) | Nemrut Dağı (1987) | Xanthos - Letoon (1988) | Safranbolu Old Town (1994) | Archaeological Site of Troy (1998) | Selimiye Mosque in Edirne (2011) | Neolithic site of Çatalhöyük (2012) | Bursa and Cumalıkızık: the cradle of the Ottoman Empire (2014) | Pergamon and its cultural landscape (2014) | Diyarbakır Fortress and Hevsel Gardens Cultural Landscape (2015) | Ephesus (2015) | Archaeological site of Ani (2016) | Aphrodisias (2017) | Göbekli Tepe (2018)
Cultural / natural heritage: Göreme National Park and the rock structures of Cappadocia (1985) | Ancient City of Hierapolis - Pamukkale (1988)
Coordinates: 39 ° 22 ′ 25 ″ N , 38 ° 7 ′ 25 ″ E