Divriği Great Mosque and Darussifa
Divriği Great Mosque and Darüşşifa, historical mosque and hospital in Divriği district of Sivas. The mosque was built in 1228-29 by the Mengücekli bey Ahmed Shah and the Darüşşifa was built on the same date by Turan Melek, the wife of Ahmed Shah and the daughter of Fahreddin Behramşah, the bey of Erzincan, by an architect named Hürrem Shah, son of Muğis from Ahlat.The Darüşşifa is based on the south wall of the mosque. Its central section is covered with a skylight dome and consists of four iwans together with the entrance. There is a mausoleum in the northeast corner of the darüşşifa. Divriği Great Mosque and Darüşşifa was inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1985, becoming the first architectural structure from Turkey to be included in the list.
The harim consists of five pitches perpendicular to the mihrab. The center court is wider than the others. The sliced dome in front of the mihrab here is covered with a pyramid cover resembling a kumbet from the outside and dominates the mosque from the outside. There is a skylight in the center court. Fan-shaped Turkish triangles were used in the transition to the skylight dome. All of the floors in the mosque are covered with different star vaults. In this mosque, it is possible to see both the Seljuk plan type with courtyard and the Umayyad plan type together.
It is a unique work in terms of plan type and ornamentation. The decorations of the three portals, which are not unified in style, are different from each other. The decorations, including the two-headed eagle motif, are extremely excessive and baroque in character. The western portal features the double-headed eagle, the coat of arms of Alaaddin Keykubad, and the falcon, the coat of arms of Ahmet Shah.
