All that remains of the Çifte (double) Minaret Madrasa in Sivas is the front façade, with its monumental portal in limestone and marble topped by the twin polychrome brick minarets that give it its name. Built in 1271 -- the same year as Muzaffer Bürüciye Madrasa and Gök Madrasa -- by Ilkhanid Vizier Semseddin Cuveyni (Shams al-din Juwayni), it was once a madrasa with four iwans centered around a two-storey courtyard.

The monumental portal is centered on the façade, and distinguished by ornamental carvings in high relief. The brick minarets rise directly from the upper corners of the portal. The geometric decoration in black and blue glazed tile counteracts the monumental scale of the minarets. Excavations have revealed the foundations of a hospice to the left of the madrasa, mirrored on the right by another building, which may have been a bath.

Sources:

Akurgal, Ekrem, and Léo Hilber. The Art and architecture of Turkey, 92. New York: Rizzoli, 1980.

Aslanapa, Oktay. Turkish art and architecture, 133-134. New York: Praeger Publishers, 1971.

Gabriel, Albert. Monuments Turcs d'Anatolie, 151-152. Paris: Editions de Boccard, 1931-1934.

Sinclair, T. A. Eastern Turkey: an architectural and archaeological survey, 303. London: Pindar Press, 1989.

Stierlin, Henri, and Anne Stierlin. Turkey, from the Selçuks to the Ottomans, 48-49. Köln, Germany: Taschen, 1998.