Gevher Nesibe was an early-13th century Seljuk princess, the daughter of
Kilij Arslan IIKilij Arslan II was a Seljuk Sultan of Rum from 1156 until his death in 1192....
and sister of Kaykhusraw I, and the namesake of a magnificent complex comprising a hospital, an adjoining medrese devoted primarily to medical studies, and a
mosqueA mosque is a place of worship for followers of Islam. Muslims often refer to the mosque by its Arabic name, masjid, —...
in
KayseriKayseri , named in classical antiquity as Mazaka or Mazaca, Eusebia, Caesarea Cappadociae, and later as Kaisariyah, is a large and industrialized city in Central Anatolia, Turkey. It is the seat of Kayseri Province...
,
TurkeyTurkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey
, is a Eurasian country that stretches across the Anatolian peninsula in Western Asia and Thrace in the Balkan region of southeastern Europe...
. The complex (
külliyeKülliye, deriving from the Arabic word "kûl" is a term which designates a complex of buildings, centered around a mosque and managed within a single institution, often based on a vakıf , and composed of a medrese, a darüşşifa, kitchens, bakery, hammam, other buildings for various benevolent...
in
TurkishTurkish is spoken as a first language by over 63 million people worldwide, making it the most commonly spoken of the Turkic languages. Its speakers are located predominantly in Turkey and Cyprus, with smaller groups in Iraq, Greece, Bulgaria, the Republic of Macedonia, Kosovo, Albania and other...
) that she endowed is considered one of the pre-eminent monuments of Seljuk architecture.
The hospital was built between 1204 and 1206, and the medrese, whose construction started immediately after Gevher Nesibe's death in 1206, was finished in 1210.
The complex as a whole takes its name from the princess. The medrese within is known under a variety of names: the Gevher Nesibe Medrese; the Çifte Medrese (Twin Medrese); or as the Gıyasiye Medrese, after Ghiyath al-Din Kaykhusraw I, who was responsible for its construction. The tomb within the medrese is said to belong to Gevher Nesibe.
Legends and the legacy
According to legend, Gevher Nesibe fell in love with a cavalry officer defending the palace of the Seljuk sultan at
KonyaKonya is a city in the Central Anatolia Region of Turkey. It is the capital of the Konya Province, and had a city population of 980,973 in 2008 while the provincial population was 1,959,082 in the same year.-Etymology:Konya, also spelled in some historic English texts as Konia or Koniah, was known...
. Her brother Kaykhusraw I opposed a marriage between his sister and an officer and sent the young man on a variety of dangerous assignments and campaigns, during the last of which he died.
Overcome with grief at her lover's death, Gevher Nesibe Sultan fell ill with
tuberculosisTuberculosis is a common and often deadly infectious disease caused by mycobacteria...
. The remorseful Kaykhusraw visited her on her deathbed, asked her forgiveness and offered to fulfill any last wish she had. Gevher Nesibe Sultan is reported to have replied: "I am very ill. There is no way for me to recover. None of these doctors can deliver me from my illness. I will eventually pass away. My wish is that you use my property to build a hospital in my honor. In this hospital, sick people should be treated with no charge and at the same time, incurable illnesses researched."
Historical record shows that Kaykhusraw carried out his sister's last wish, beginning the hospital in Kayseri in 1204. The buildings were designed and built by an architect named Üstad Ömer. The entryway inscription, a common feature of
Islamic architectureIslamic architecture encompasses a wide range of both secular and religious styles from the foundation of Islam to the present day, influencing the design and construction of buildings and structures in Islamic culture....
that usually records the architect's name, is missing, but the information is preserved in written sources elsewhere. The institution was reportedly the first hospital in the world that treated patients with mental disorders. The complex as a whole represents the earliest surviving Seljuk medrese and hospital in
AnatoliaAnatolia is a geographic region of Western Asia, comprising most of the modern Republic of Turkey. The region is bounded by the Black Sea to the north, the Caucasus to the northeast, the Iranian plateau to the southeast, the Mediterranean Sea to the south and the Aegean Sea to the west...
.
Gevher Nesibe's Darüşşifa, or Şifahane, now functions as a public museum dedicated to medicine. The university hospital in
KayseriKayseri , named in classical antiquity as Mazaka or Mazaca, Eusebia, Caesarea Cappadociae, and later as Kaisariyah, is a large and industrialized city in Central Anatolia, Turkey. It is the seat of Kayseri Province...
's
Erciyes UniversityErciyes University is a Turkish institute of higher education located in Kayseri, Turkey. As of 4 April 2006, a total of 28,474 students are studying for their bachelors degree and postgraduate studies.-Background:...
was also named in memory of Gevher Nesibe.