A 10-tiered flared muqarnas or stalactite vault in typical Anatolian style, on the portal of the Cifte Minare medrese in Sivas, Turkey. - SK.
The Çifte Minare Medrese was commissioned by an Ilkhanid-Mongol vizier Şemsettin Güveyni in 1271, after defeating the Seljuks. Only the monumental façade remains, which has a pair ('çifte') of minarets rising from its top. It was once a madrasa and included a double-storied courtyard within four iwans, in classical Ilkhanid style. The minarets are covered with banna'i work, in which plain bricks are combined with those with glazed ends to form a pattern. - SK
Creation date unknown. Photograph processed September 1967. Formerly catalogued as B41.007, AP.006. Notes written on the slide or index: Sivas - Çifte Minare.
