ABSTRACT

In one year, 670/ 1271-72, three madrasas were built in the central Anatolian city of Sivas.1 This city had long been a center of commerce due to its location at the intersection of important trade routes from Iran to Konya and from the Black Sea to the Mediterranean. The route from Ayas to Tabriz (via Sivas, Erzincan, and Erzurum), in particular, was crucial. The establishment of a Genoese trading post in Sivas and the increase of trade between Anatolia and Iran in the second half of the thirteenth century further bolstered the city’s commercial role.2 With the construction of three madrasas-the Buruciye Medrese, Çifte Minareli Medrese, and Gök MedreseSivas also gained in importance as a center of scholarship, though the names of the scholars who were initially appointed as teachers in these buildings are not known.3 All at once, Sivas became a university town offering substantial opportunities for Sunni scholars and students respectively to teach and study Islamic law. In an effort to understand this specific moment in the architectural history of Anatolia, this chapter investigates the context of the construction of these madrasas, the motivations and backgrounds of their patrons, and the characteristics and style of their architecture.