Brief Description
This region of Anatolia was conquered by the Turks at the beginning of the 11th century. In 1228–29 Emir Ahmet Shah founded a mosque, with its adjoining hospital, at Divrigi. The mosque has a single prayer room and is crowned by two cupolas. The highly sophisticated technique of vault construction, and a creative, exuberant type of decorative sculpture – particularly on the three doorways, in contrast to the unadorned walls of the interior – are the unique features of this masterpiece of Islamic architecture.
This region of Anatolia was conquered by the Turks at the beginning of the 11th century. In 1228–29 Emir Ahmet Shah founded a mosque, with its adjoining hospital, at Divrigi. The mosque has a single prayer room and is crowned by two cupolas. The highly sophisticated technique of vault construction, and a creative, exuberant type of decorative sculpture – particularly on the three doorways, in contrast to the unadorned walls of the interior – are the unique features of this masterpiece of Islamic architecture.
Grande mosquée et hôpital de Divriği
Dans cette région d'Anatolie conquise par les Turcs au début du XIe siècle, l'émir Ahmet Shah fonda en 1228-1229 une mosquée, dotée d'une salle de prière unique et surmontée de deux coupoles, ainsi qu'un hôpital contigu à la mosquée. Une technique très élaborée de construction des voûtes, une sculpture décorative créative et exubérante, notamment sur les trois portails, contrastant avec la sévérité de l'enceinte, donnent un aspect très particulier à ce chef-d'œuvre de l'architecture islamique.
المسجد الكبير ومشفى ديوريجي
في هذه المنطقة من الأناضول التي دخلها الأتراك في مطلع القرن الحادي عشر، أسس الأمير أحمد شاه عامي 1228 و1229 مسجداً مزوداً بقاعة للصلاة فريدة من نوعها تعلوها قبتان ومستشفى مجاوراً للمسجد. أما تقنية بناء القبب المتطورة جداً والنحت التزييني الخلاق والفني الذي يميز الأبواب الثلاثة بشكل خاص ويتناقض مع صرامة السور فيضفيان طابعاً بالغ التميّز على هذه التحفة الهندسية الإسلامية.
Source: UNESCO/BPI
迪夫里伊的大清真寺和医院
迪夫里伊的大清真寺和医院位于安纳托利亚地区，11世纪由土耳其人占领。埃米尔·艾哈迈德·沙哈(Emir Ahmet Shah)于1228-1229年建立了一座里面包括一个单独祈祷室的清真寺，有两个圆盖封顶，还与一个医院相邻。它极其精致的拱顶结构、富有想象力的创造性的装饰性雕刻（尤其是三扇门上的），与朴实无华的内部墙壁形成了鲜明对比，这些都使它成为伊斯兰建筑中独一无二的杰作。
Source: UNESCO/ERI
Большая мечеть и больница в городе Дивриги
Эта район Анатолии был завоеван турками-сельджуками в начале XI в. В 1228-29 гг. эмир Ахмед-шах основал в Дивриги мечеть, при которой была устроена больница. Мечеть покрыта двумя куполами и имеет один молитвенный зал. Тщательно продуманная технология возведения сводов и выразительная изобретательность скульптурных украшений, особенно трех порталов, контрастирующих с неукрашенными стенами в интерьере, являются уникальными чертами этого шедевра исламской архитектуры.
Source: UNESCO/ERI
Gran mezquita y hospital de Divriği
En esta región de Anatolia conquistada por los turcos a principios del siglo XI, el emir Ahmet Shah ordenó construir en 1228-1229 una mezquita provista de una sola sala de oración y rematada por dos cúpulas, así como un hospital contiguo. Esta obra maestra de la arquitectura islámica se caracteriza tanto por la perfección técnica de sus bóvedas como por la creatividad y exuberancia de la ornamentación esculpida en los tres portales de acceso, que contrastan con la total austeridad del interior del edificio.
Source: UNESCO/ERI
ディヴリーイの大モスクと病院
source: NFUAJ
Great Mosque and Hospital of Divrigi
Long Description
The Divriği mosque is an outstanding example of Selçuk mosques in Anatolia, having neither a courtyard, colonnades, nor an uncovered ablutions basin, but which (owing perhaps to the harshness of the climate) organizes all religious functions in an enclosed area. A charitable foundation, the contiguous hospital makes an already exceptional ensemble even more interesting thanks to a princely command.
Far away from the major communication links at the south-east of Sivas province in eastern Anatolia, the mountainous region of Divriği (Tephrike in the Byzantine Empire) was a 12th-century refuge for the Paulician Christian sect which was persecuted by Basil I and then by John Tzimisces, who exiled their survivors to Thrace. From there the heresy gradually moved westward, gaining followers of varying degrees of loyalty such as the Bogarmils or Cathars.
After 1071, Divriği fell to the Turks. In 1118 the city was given to Mengücek Bey and the dynasty of the Mengücekids governed the province virtually without interruption until the Mongol occupation in 1277.
The rectangular ensemble of buildings, which occupies the south-west slope of the hill from which Divriği Castle rises, dates back to this first Turkish period. There is a mosque which was founded in 1228-29 by the Mengücekid emir, Ahmet Shah, and a marestan (hospital for the insane) endowed by his wife, Malikaturan Malik. These two complementary monuments were built simultaneously by the same architect, Khurramshad of Ahlat.
The sole prayer room in the great mosque has five aisles, each consisting of five bays. It has stone vaulting and above are two cupolas of unequal size. One is above the ablutions basin and the other is above the mihrab (prayer niche). The second cupola is the principal one, recognizable from the exterior by its hexagonal spire.
With its ribwork on pendentives, it is the most refined piece of architecture that the mosque has to offer. Yet each of the 16 remaining vaults is an amazing technical feat: the vaulting of the hospital room is comparable in scientific achievement, making use of a spacious design of perfectly pure lines. The principal nave opens towards the east on an iwan (three-sided, vaulted hall open at one end) and laterally on to two iwans flanked by small rooms. Such a layout makes possible isolation as well as contact in a communal area.
From the outside, the Divriği ensemble provides a gripping contrast between the low, blind walls of its rectangular enclosure and the three immense gates which afford access to the hospital at the west and to the mosque at the north and west. These three high, recessed gates with their exuberant decor which is both floral and geometric have been the subject of the most paradoxical of comparisons with Khmer and Gothic monuments. As was the case with the vaulting in the mosque and the hospital, the architect most likely drew his inspiration from contemporary Armenian or Georgian motifs, transposing them in an ingenious fashion.
There is a fourth and more recent opening at the east side which can probably be traced back to 1241.
Source: UNESCO/CLT/WHC
