Hatuniye Madrasa: Karaman’s Marble Portal of 1382

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

What is the Hatuniye Madrasa?

The Hatuniye Madrasa (Hatuniye Medresesi) is the best-known monument of Karaman and one of the finest buildings of the Anatolian beyliks. It was built in 1382 as a theological school by Nefise Sultan, a daughter of the Ottoman sultan Murad I who had married the Karamanid ruler Alaeddin Bey. Hatun means “lady”, and the building is named after her.

Its plan is the classic one of Anatolian madrasas: an open courtyard surrounded by arcades, a single large iwan, and students’ cells along the east and west sides, all of cut stone. What sets it apart is the portal, called the Taşkapı (“stone gate”), carved from marble with a richness of detail that has made it one of the most photographed doorways in central Anatolia.

The 2002 inventory calls the madrasa one of the masterpieces of the Karamanid period, and the Karaman Museum was founded directly behind it.

How do you get to the Hatuniye Madrasa?

The madrasa is in the city centre, close to Karaman Castle and within easy walking distance of the other Karamanid monuments. Karaman railway station, served by high-speed trains from Konya, Ankara and Istanbul (Halkalı), is a short taxi ride away. The nearest airport is Konya (KYA), roughly 120 km north. If you come by car from Konya, allow a little over an hour for the 100 km.

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When is the best time to visit the Hatuniye Madrasa?

Morning light suits the portal best. Spring and autumn are the most pleasant seasons for walking between Karaman’s monuments; summer afternoons are hot. The madrasa combines well with the castle, the Karaman Museum and the Yunus Emre Mosque in a half-day walk.

What is the history of the Hatuniye Madrasa?

The madrasa was built when Karaman was the capital of the Karamanids, the most powerful of the Turkmen states that divided Anatolia after the Seljuks. Relations between the Karamanids and the rising Ottomans were tense, and marriages were one of the ways the two dynasties tried to hold the peace. Nefise Sultan’s marriage to Alaeddin Bey was one of them.

It did not last. Alaeddin Bey fought his wife’s family for years and was finally defeated and executed in 1388 on the orders of Bayezid I, Nefise’s brother. His tomb stands in the Hisar quarter of Karaman. The madrasa, completed six years earlier, survived the wars that followed and the Ottoman conquest of the city in 1468.

According to its inscription the architect was Numanoğlu Hoca Ahmed (Ahmed, son of Numan). The rest of the building is of cut stone from around Karaman; only the portal is of marble.

Nefise Sultan is still remembered in the city: the quarter around Karaman railway station is called Nefise Sultan Mahallesi after her.

What is the Hatuniye Madrasa famous for?

• The Taşkapı portal, a tall marble doorway carved with muqarnas, geometric interlace and plant ornament, often cited as one of the finest portals of the beylik period.
• A dynastic marriage between the Ottomans and the Karamanids, recorded in stone.
• The Karamanid style, which carried Seljuk forms into the late 14th century.

What can you see at the Hatuniye Madrasa?

The portal. Stand back across the street to see it whole, then come close for the details: the stepped muqarnas hood, the bands of interlace, and the carved inscription panels.

The courtyard. The open courtyard is lined with arcades. Facing the entrance is the single iwan, the raised vaulted hall where lessons were given, and along the east and west sides are the cells where students lived.

The stonework. Away from the portal the building is plain cut stone, which makes the contrast with the marble doorway all the stronger.

The Karaman Museum. The 2002 inventory places the museum, founded in 1961, behind the madrasa. It displays the Neolithic and Chalcolithic finds from Canhasan, the preserved body of a Byzantine-period woman from the Manazan caves, coins, Qur’an manuscripts and carved woodwork taken from old Karaman houses, with Roman grave stelae in the garden.

Nearby. Karaman Castle, the Aktekke (Mader-i Mevlana) Mosque of 1371 and the Yunus Emre Mosque and Tomb are a short walk away. Just along Hastane Caddesi is the small Sadettin Ali Bey Mescidi, a Seljuk building of 1247. At Aktekke, look for the Mevlevi dervish headdress carved over the marble arch of the doorway, a reminder that Rumi’s mother is buried inside.

Frequently asked questions about the Hatuniye Madrasa

What do the official records say about the Hatuniye Madrasa?

Founded in 1961 on the principle that Karaman and its surroundings have rich archaeological and ethnographic material and that finds should be displayed where they were found, the museum stands in the centre of Karaman, on Hastane Caddesi, behind the Hatuniye Madrasa, one of the masterpieces of the Karamanid period.

The museum collection holds rich finds reflecting every period from the Epipaleolithic to the present day. In the exhibition hall, in 33 cases, in two sections, archaeological and ethnographic, works of the Neolithic, Chalcolithic and Bronze Age, Greek, Roman, Byzantine, Seljuk, Anatolian beyliks, Ottoman and Republican periods are displayed from the earliest to the latest. The most striking pieces in the exhibition are the Neolithic and Chalcolithic finds from the excavations at Canhasan mound. (Ministry of Culture and Tourism, Karaman Provincial Tourism Inventory, 2002)