THE "HACI KILIÇ" MOSQUE AND MEDRESE IN KAYSERİ

Abstract

The "Hacı Kılıç" Complex, built in Kayseri (1249 A.D.) by Abul Kasım Ibn Ali Eltusi during the reign of Sultan Keykavus II, is an original example of a building in which a mosque and a half
medrese are combined. (Fig. 1)

The length of the mosque is somewhat less than the length of mosques with typical basilical plan. The mosque has five aisles perpendicular to the Kıblah wall. The center aisle is wider and higher than the others. As usual, we see the maqsura cupola in front of the mihrab; courtyard of the medrese is situated in the place where the light-dome is usually found in other basilical type mosques. The aisles are separated by pointed arches with heavy supports, running perpendicular to the Kıblah wall. (Fig. 10)

The arches are built with stepped profiles like the arches found in the Huand and Külük Mosques in Kayseri. These pointed arches with stepped profiles extend down to the floor around the mihrab, where their ornamental value is enriched by the use of four steps instead of the two steps found elsewhere in the mosque. (Fig. 12 a) This kind of mihrab enclosure is typical for the mosques in the Kayseri arca. We encounter similar examples in the Huand Hatun and Külük Mosques in Kayseri, as well as the "Ulu Cami" Mosque in Erzurum.

The stone mihrab with stalactites is the original mihrab. However, the lower part of the mihrab niche has been recently repaired. (Fig. 12 a, b) Geometrical borders with flat reliefs are the dominant elements in the decoration of the mihrab. The same textured ornamental elements are noticeable in the portal of the mosque. (Fig. 2) Such portals are typical for the Kayseri arca. The minaret, situated to the right of the portal, is a later addition and obstructs the original window behind it. (Fig. ı , 9) It is difficult to say anything definite about the location and type of the original minaret.

The medrese part is reached from the mosque side through three pointed arches, the central arch being higher and wider than the other two. Today, these arches are covered by glass partition walls with iron framework. (Fig. 16)

In Anatolian Seljuk architecture, a similar —though from another standpoint— type of connection is found only in the medrese of the Külük Mosque in Kayseri. (Today, the connection is closed).

The Hacı Kılıç Medrese, which has been extensively restored, is a medrese with two ivans and an open courtyard. The medrese has an entrance ivan at the eastern end, facing the main ivan. The courtyard is surrounded by a vaulted colonnade with pointed arches resting on heavy square supports. (Fig. 16, 17) The rooms are found behind the colonnade.

The large room next to the main ivan is the winter classroom and the room extending into the mosque at the south of the entrance ivan is the türbe (mausoleum) part. At the eastern side, there is a stair leading to the roof. The medrese portal has the same characteristics as the mosque portal. (Fig. 3) Various details bear strong resemblance to the portal of the Huand Hatun Medrese. (Fig. 15 a,b)

The inscriptions at the mosque and medrese portals give an idea about the construction date of the complex. (Fig. 7, 14)

The Hacı Kılıç Complex constitutes the sole example of the combination of a mosque and a half medrese along the same axis in Anatolian Seljuk Art, with the exception of the Külük Mosque, where the medrese is annexed to the mosque sideways.

We encounter earlier and somewhat different examples of such combinations in the Ayyubid-Zengid medreses in Syria, f. inst. Nureddin Darulhadis ( 1164 - 1174), Reyhaniye Medrese ( 1180, Adrawiyah Medrese (12th century), Adiliyah Medrese (1233), al Nuriyah al Kubra Medrese ( 1172) in Damascus and in the Orthokid Medreses in south-east Anatolia, f. inst. Şehidiye Medrese in Mardin (1239- 1260), Taceddin Mesut Medrese in Harzam (1211 ), Zinciriye Medrese in Diyarbakır (1198). In these examples, an ivan is developed into a mosque with a broadened plan. The passage from the mosque to the medrese is secured by means of a three-span arch system just like the Hacı Kılıç Mosque; the mosque and the medrese form a unity with common characteristics. However, in these earlier examples, the medrese is always the main and dominant part of the complex, whereas in the case of Hacı Kılıç, the mosque, built in typical Seljuk style, is the dominant element.