Kösk Madrese ve Turbe
Kayseri, Türkiye
The Kösk Madrasa is a madrasa in name only. It was built by Emir Eretna Alaeddin (1336-1352) in 1339 as a tomb for his wife Suli Pasa. Situated on a hilltop, it is built like a fortress. Its windowless exterior, built of rough-hewn stone, contrasts with its contemplative open courtyard. It is thirty meters by thirty-six meters in plan.

The courtyard is enveloped by an arcade and has an octagonal tomb (kümbet) at its center. The treatment of the arcade is striking in this building, as the corners are softened with a small arch at forty-five degrees, instead of the more common right angle where perpendicular aisles of an arcade meet. The tomb is raised two and a half meters above the ground on a square plinth. It is accessed by a twin stairway facing the entrance to the courtyard. Each face of the mausoleum has a shallow niche crowned by an arch and framed by small columns embedded in the octagon's corners. A Koranic inscription wraps the shaft below the pyramidal roof. There are only two rooms in the exterior building and they are found on either side of the entrance.


Sources:

Aslanapa, Oktay. Turkish art and architecture, 176. New York: Praeger Publishers, 1971.

Ertug, Ahmet. The Seljuks: a journey through Anatolian architecture, 219. Istanbul: Ahmet Ertug, 1991.

Gabriel, Albert. Monuments Turcs d'Anatolie, 67-70. Paris: Editions de Boccard, 1931-1934.
Location
On a hill to the southeast of Kayseri, Kayseri, Türkiye
Images & Videos
Events
1339/741 AH
Style Periods
Variant Names
Köşk Medrese ve Eretna Ailesi
Variant
Kosk Madrese
Variant
Building Usages
funerary