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Divriği Ulucami and Şifahane (Divriği Great Mosque and Hospital)
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Portal Compositions
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GATES OF PARADISE
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History and art lovers may find the Divriği Complex, which is included in the UNESCO World Heritage list as one of the most important and most imposing examples of Turkish medieval art from the Anatolian Seljuk era, with its monumental decoration and unique sculptures on the Virtual Museum of Architecture website (www.mimarlikmuzesi.org).
The Divriği Complex, comprising a mosque, tomb and hospital erected in 1228/29 by Ahmet Shah of the Mengücekoğuları and his consort Turan Melek, reflects a style unique in Islamic architecture. The building, known as the “Hürremşah Sculpture” after the name of the craftsman responsible, is particularly famous for its portals and the sculptural nature and content of its decoration. The decorative programme displays an organic sculptural design expressing a decorative imagination and energy nowhere else to be found in Islamic art. In bringing together motifs from totally different roots with a boldness not normally to be found in an established society no distinction is made between the Islamic and the non-Islamic in the choice of motif and design, which goes far beyond all the usual stereotypes and clichés.
Professor Doğan Kuban sees all this as one of the most important manifestations of a multiple cultural source stemming from the fusion of sedentary and nomadic life styles.
The Divriği Ulucami and Şifahane were added to the World Heritage list in 1985. In other words, the complex was accepted as part of the human legacy and Turkey given the responsibility for its conservation. It has now, however, begun to display structural problems resulting from defects in the water and damp insulation, earthquakes and degradation in the stonework, and these continue to be a problem in spite of the large number of attempts at repair carried out since 1940. In particular, the protection of the portal decoration against the elements is a matter of very serious controversy.
It is proposed that the Ministry of Culture and the Sivas Governor`s Office should share with the Vakıflar General Directorate responsibility for the work carried out on the building.
In the case of the Divriği Ulucami and Şifahane several of the tasks prescribed for buildings on the UNESCO World Heritage list have not yet been undertaken. No management plan has been prepared, with the result that confusion reigns regarding the authority possessed by the various different public bodies responsible for the building. The fact that the conservation area has not been clearly determined opens the way to the harmful effects of uncontrolled building in the area. There is no visitor control plan and social awareness is extremely weak. Preliminary work on the repair of the building has been initiated by the Ministry of Culture World Heritage Sites unit. Attention is first directed to the measurement of the statics situation and this will be followed by the preparation of the plan and the restoration project.
In the book entitled “Gates of Paradise: The Sculpture of Hürremşah at Divriği Ulucami and Şifahane” Doğan Kuban examines the artistic characteristics of the building in a historical and social context. This Museum of Architecture exhibition is based on the above-mentioned book and the photographs displayed in the exhibition held in the ITU Faculty of Architecture from 28 April 2009 to 28 February 2010 and subsequently in various places in Turkey and abroad, an exhibition prepared by H. Basri Hamulu with Doğan Kuban as consultant to draw attention to the dangers with which the building was confronted.
Text: Prof. Doğan Kuban Photographs: Cemal Emden Photograph Sponsor: H. Basri Hamulu Editor: Neslihan Küçükaslan Foreword: Derya Nükhet Özer
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Divriği Ulucami and Şifahane (Divriği Great Mosque and Hospital)
The western section of the mosque was rebuilt after its complete destruction in the great earthquake which occurred at the beginning of the 16th century. The plan consists of five naves running perpendicular to the qibla wall. The central nave is wider than the others. The naves are divided into five sections and ar...
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Portal Compositions
The belief that mosque doors were “gates to paradise” was one widely held among Muslims. “Cenh”, the root of the word “cennet” (paradise), which occurs in various verses of the Koran, refers to a garden with vines and date palms shading the ground with their thick foliage and branches. In the Koran (LV1, 29, 30, 48)...
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Guest Book
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