The Ince Minareli Madrasa takes its name from what was once its extremely tall minaret, currently reduced to only the lower portion. Much of the minaret collapsed in the early twentieth century. The lowermost portion of the minaret is square and built of stone, which gives way to cylindrical brick, which must have formed the bulk of its height. The brick was once covered in green tile.
The minaret sits slightly removed from the monumental portal to the madrasa. This entrance is testament to the skill of Seljuk stoneworkers: an inscription complete with floral and natural motifs is intertwined up the entire height of the façade. Further stonework in relief shows knots and other geometric decoration.
Sources:
Ertug, Ahmet. The Seljuks: a journey through Anatolian architecture, 219. Istanbul: Ahmet Ertug, 1991.
Rice, Tamara Talbot. The Seljuks in Asia Minor, 280. New York: Praeger, 1961.
Stierlin, Henri, and Anne Stierlin. Turkey, from the Selçuks to the Ottomans, 240. Köln, Germany: Taschen, 1998.
