Şifaiye Madrasa: The Seljuk Hospital of Sivas

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

What is Şifaiye Madrasa?

The Şifaiye Madrasa, also called the Sivas Darüşşifası, is the hospital and medical school founded in 1217 by the Seljuk sultan İzzeddin Keykavus I in the centre of Sivas. The 2002 inventory calls it one of the oldest and largest of the Anatolian Seljuk medical schools and hospitals, and the provincial directorate describes it as the largest medical centre of its era in Anatolia.

It is also a royal tomb. İzzeddin Keykavus I, who died in 1220, was buried, at his own wish, with his family in a tomb in the south iwan of the madrasa he loved.

How do you get to Şifaiye Madrasa?

It stands in Selçuklu Park in the city centre, by Hükümet Meydanı, directly opposite the Çifte Minareli Madrasa, with the Buruciye Madrasa next to them. The Gök Medrese is a few minutes’ walk away. Arrive in Sivas by high-speed train, coach or plane, and the rest is on foot.

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When is the best time to visit Şifaiye Madrasa?

Any day of the year. The inventory already listed the Şifaiye as one of the places in Sivas to shop for crafts, and the courtyard is a pleasant place for tea in good weather. Spring and early autumn evenings in the park are best; in winter the open courtyard is cold.

What is the history of Şifaiye Madrasa?

İzzeddin Keykavus I ruled the Seljuk Sultanate of Rum from 1211 to 1220. He built the darüşşifa in 1217, when Sivas was one of the twin capitals of the sultanate alongside Konya and a major stop on the caravan routes. As a hospital, it treated the sick; as a madrasa, it trained physicians.

The sultan died in 1220, and in line with his will he was buried with his family in the tomb built in the south iwan. The tomb’s façade is decorated with glazed tiles.

In 1271, more than fifty years after its foundation, the Ilkhanid vizier Şemseddin Cüveyni built the Çifte Minareli Madrasa directly opposite it, and the Buruciye was built next door the same year, so the square became the focus of Seljuk Sivas.

What is Şifaiye Madrasa famous for?

• A medieval hospital. One of the oldest and largest Seljuk medical schools and hospitals in Anatolia.
• A sultan’s tomb. The burial place of İzzeddin Keykavus I and his family.
• The Seljuk square. With the Çifte Minareli and Buruciye madrasas, it forms the core of Seljuk Sivas.

What can you see at Şifaiye Madrasa?

The portal. The carved stone entrance on the park side.

The courtyard. An open courtyard surrounded by porticoes and iwans, with the former patients’ and students’ rooms opening off it. Several now hold craft and souvenir shops.

The tomb of İzzeddin Keykavus I. In the south iwan, with its tiled façade.

Across the park

Çifte Minareli Madrasa. Built in 1271 by the Ilkhanid vizier Şemseddin Mehmet Cüveyni. Only its east front stands, but it is spectacular: a central crown portal with two minarets, flanked by windows and corner towers. The inventory writes that this decoration gives a lively, moving façade that strongly conveys the play of light and shade. The provincial directorate calls its portal the tallest in Anatolia.

Buruciye Madrasa. Built in 1271 under Gıyaseddin Keyhüsrev III by Muzaffer Bey, son of Hibetullah Burucerdi, for the teaching of the sciences of its day. The yellowish carved portal and the inner façade opposite it across the courtyard are among the most beautiful Seljuk stone carving of the period. A tomb room decorated with blue and black tiles, left of the entrance, holds the graves of Muzaffer Bey and his children; its endowment deed shows the building also had a library.

The Congress Museum. The Atatürk Congress and Ethnography Museum, where the Sivas Congress met in September 1919, is a short walk from the square.

Güdük Minare. Also in the centre, the cylindrical brick tomb on a square base that Eretna built in 1347 for his eldest son Şeyh Hasan Bey, who died young. Because it looks like a short minaret, locals call it the Güdük Minare (“Stumpy Minaret”); another popular name is the Dabaz Tekkesi.

The Great Mosque. The oldest mosque in the city, built in 1196–97 by Kızıl Arslan bin İbrahim, with a flat roof over 50 masonry piers and a 13th-century brick minaret banded with turquoise glazed brick.

Frequently asked questions about Şifaiye Madrasa

What do the official records say about Şifaiye Madrasa?

It is in the city centre, inside Selçuklu Park, directly opposite the Çifte Minareli Madrasa. It was built in 1217 by the Seljuk sultan İzzeddin Keykavus I. It is one of the oldest and largest of the Anatolian Seljuk medical schools and hospitals. İzzeddin Keykavus I, who died in 1220, lies with his family, in accordance with his will, in the tomb in the south iwan of the Şifaiye Madrasa in Sivas, which he loved very much. (Ministry of Culture and Tourism, Sivas Provincial Tourism Inventory, 2002)