Meydan Madrasa: Hakkari’s 18th-Century Stone College

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1. What is Meydan Madrasa?
2. How do you get to Meydan Madrasa?
3. When is the best time to visit Meydan Madrasa?
4. What is the history of Meydan Madrasa?
5. What is Meydan Madrasa famous for?
6. What can you see at Meydan Madrasa?
7. Frequently asked questions about Meydan Madrasa
8. What do the official records say about Meydan Madrasa?

What is Meydan Madrasa?

Meydan Madrasa (Meydan Medresesi) is a stone college of Islamic learning in the centre of Hakkari, built at the start of the 18th century when the city, then called Çölemerik, was the seat of the Hakkari beys. Two floors of arcades run around an inner courtyard, the rooms behind them once housed students and teachers, and the south front has a carved portal with a marble inscription.

Most of Hakkari’s older buildings survive only as ruins. The Meydan Madrasa is the exception: the official tourism portal describes it as an Ottoman-period monument that has kept its authenticity to the present.

How do you get to Meydan Madrasa?

The madrasa is in the Biçer quarter in the centre of Hakkari city and is easily reached on foot from the main streets; ask for “Meydan Medresesi”. Hakkari is 78 km from Yüksekova airport and 210 km by road from Van; see our Hakkari guide for transport details.

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When is the best time to visit Meydan Madrasa?

Any time of year. In summer, combine it with a trip to Berçelan or the Zap Valley; in winter, with skiing at Mergabüt above the city. Opening arrangements are not published, so if the doors are closed, ask at the provincial culture and tourism directorate.

What is the history of Meydan Madrasa?

The 2002 inventory explains that the inscription on the entrance gate shows the madrasa was built in AH 1112, that is 1700–1701. The inscription does not say who built it, but it is thought that it may have been commissioned by İbrahim Bey, son of İzzet, who governed Hakkari at the time. It has stood since a repair carried out by the General Directorate of Foundations in 1984.

It belongs to a line of madrasas founded by the Hakkari beys. The earlier Zeynel Bey Madrasa, built in the second half of the 16th century by Zeynel Bey, who governed Hakkari between 1560 and 1578, stands largely ruined in the Gülerek quarter; Zeynel Bey was buried in its courtyard in 1587.

What is Meydan Madrasa famous for?

• Survival. It is the best-preserved historic building in Hakkari city.
• The two-storey arcades. Columns with different capitals below and piers above carry pointed arches around the courtyard.
• The portal. A carved frame of spiral mouldings, muqarnas and relief vases and flowers, picked out in brown stone.

What can you see at Meydan Madrasa?

Opening hours change through the year, so check them before you visit. It has a courtyard and two storeys, and is entered from the south.

The courtyard arcades. Arcades run around all four sides of the courtyard on two levels. The lower arcades rest on columns with varied capitals and shapes, the upper ones on piers. The arches are pointed and the bays are vaulted.

The rooms. On the west side there are four barrel-vaulted rooms on each floor, of similar size, with doors opening onto small rectangular porticoes. Their west walls have narrow windows, and the other walls have cupboard niches and fireplaces. On the east wing there are three rooms below and two above. These are larger, and their northern ends were used as a classroom and a prayer room, each with a mihrab niche facing north. The lower mihrab is a semicircular niche, while the upper one is crowned by an arch with three openings.

The south front and portal. The building is of smooth dressed stone. The portal is framed by a spiral fluted moulding and a border of muqarnas. The door itself, made of single blocks of stone above and at the sides, is decorated outside with relief vases and flowers and framed on three sides by a border. Because both the muqarnas border and the inner border are made of brown stone, they stand out on the façade. A rectangular marble inscription is set above the door. Apart from their windows, the other façades are plain.

Frequently asked questions about Meydan Madrasa

What do the official records say about Meydan Madrasa?

It is located in the Biçer quarter of central Hakkari. It has stood since the repair carried out by the General Directorate of Foundations in 1984. From the inscription on the entrance gate of the madrasa it is understood that it was built in AH 1112, AD 1700–1701. Although the inscription does not state who built it, it is estimated that it may have been built by İbrahim Bey, son of İzzet, who was the administrator of the Hakkari government.

Arcades surround all four sides of the courtyard on two storeys. The lower arcades rest on columns with different capitals and shapes, and those on the upper floor on piers. The arcade openings have pointed arches, and their bays are covered with vaults. (Ministry of Culture and Tourism, Hakkari Provincial Tourism Inventory, 2002)