İnce Minareli Madrasa

Overview

Near the citadel hill of Konya, a stone portal rises like a carved page of calligraphy, with two bands of Quranic script that twist around each other above the door. Beside it, however, stands a short minaret of brick and turquoise tile. Once, though, it was much taller. So this is the Ince Minareli Madrasa (İnce Minareli Medrese (a school of Islamic learning) in Turkish), the School of the Slender Minaret, built in 1265 and now Konya’s Museum of Stone and Wood Art. For eight days on this theme, see our art and architecture tour of Turkey.

The Story of the Ince Minareli Madrasa

To begin with, the Seljuk vizier Sahib Ata Fakhr al-Din Ali commissioned the madrasa in 1265. In the decades after Konya was recaptured from the Mongols, he became one of the two great builders of the city, and when he died in 1288, he was buried in his own Sahip Ata Complex in Konya.

Kölük, son of Abdullah

On the facade, two rosettes beside the portal name the architect: Kölük bin Abdullah. Interestingly, his name also appears at the nearby Sahip Ata Complex, another work for the same vizier, who later founded the Gök Medrese in Sivas.

The minaret struck by lightning

Fittingly, the building takes its name from its slender minaret, which once rose high above the town. In 1884, the American photographer John Henry Haynes captured it at full height from the citadel. Then, in 1901, lightning struck the minaret, and most of it collapsed. Today, only the lower part survives.

What to See at the Ince Minareli Madrasa

The portal of calligraphy

First, stand before the portal. Instead of the usual muqarnas hood, it carries great bands of thuluth calligraphy, quoting Sura 36 and Sura 110, which rise, separate and knot together above the doorway. Around them, similarly, carved knots, branches and leaves fill every surface.

The tiled dome

Next, step into the central hall. Above you, in turn, a dome with a lantern rests on four brick pendentives, and its inner surface is covered with turquoise and black tiles in geometric patterns.

The Museum of Stone and Wood Art

Finally, explore the collection. Today, also, the rooms display Seljuk carving in stone and wood. Look especially for the reliefs of figures and animals, such as a 13th-century hunter on horseback.

Tips for visiting the Ince Minareli Madrasa

How to Visit the Ince Minareli Madrasa

The museum stands near the citadel hill in central Konya. We arrange your entry to the madrasa on a Konya day.

Then climb Alaeddin Hill to the Alaeddin Mosque, the burial place of the Seljuk sultans, and continue to the tiles of the Karatay Madrasa and the Mevlana Museum, the shrine of Rumi.