Divriği

Divriği
—  Town  —
Divriği, portal of the Darüşşifa hospital adjoining the Great Mosque
Location of Divriği within Turkey.
Coordinates: 39°22′N 38°07′E / 39.367°N 38.117°E / 39.367; 38.117Coordinates: 39°22′N 38°07′E / 39.367°N 38.117°E / 39.367; 38.117
Country	Turkey
Region	Central Anatolia
Province	Sivas
Government
- Mayor	Hakan Gök (CHP)
Time zone	EET (UTC+2)
- Summer (DST)	EEST (UTC+3)
Website	www.divrigi.bel.tr

Divriği is a town and a district of Sivas Province of Turkey. The town lies on gentle slope on the south bank of the Çaltısuyu river, a tributary of the Karasu river.

During the Byzantine period the town, then called Tephrike or Tephrice (Greek: Τεφρική), was an important stronghold for the Paulicians. They fortified it and used it as refuge and capital of their semi-independent state during the 9th century. It was captured by the Byzantine Empire during the reign of Emperor Basil I and made into a thema. Around 1071, after the battle of Manzikert, the area was conquered by the Seljuk Bey Mengujek Gazi. The medieval (13th century) castle remains still exist on top of a steep hill.

In 1228-29, while Divriği was under the rule of the Mengujekids Emir Ahmed Shah, he commissioned a mosque (Divriği Great Mosque - Divriği Ulu Camii in Turkish) which stands fully intact. The mosque, along with the adjoining Medical Center (Darüşşifa), built simultaneously with the mosque by Turan Melek Sultan, daughter of the Mengujek ruler of Erzincan, Fahreddin Behram Shah, are included on UNESCO's World Heritage List by virtue of its exquisite carvings and architecture of both building. It is considered as one of the most important works of architecture of Anatolia. The geometrical and floral patterned reliefs found on the main door in particular attract great interest.

See also

• Divriği Great Mosque
• Mengujekids

External links

• Media related to Divriği at Wikimedia Commons
• Divriği Great Mosque And Hospital
• UNESCO file: "Divriği Great Mosque and Hospital" (in English). UNESCO. http://whc.unesco.org/pg.cfm?cid=31&id_site=358 UNESCO file:. 
• (fact sheet) "Great Mosque and Hospital of Divriği" (in English). Archnet. http://archnet.org/library/sites/one-site.tcl?site_id=7802 (fact sheet). 
• İbrahim Shaikh. (full text and photos) "The Miracle of Divriği" (in English). The International Society for the History of Islamic Medicine. http://www.ishim.net/ishimj/jishim4_7_8/vol4No8/shaikh.doc (full text and photos). 
• Mustafa Güler, İlknur Aktuğ Kolay. (full text) "12. yüzyıl Anadolu Türk Camileri (12th century Turkish mosques in Anatolia" (in Turkish). Istanbul Technical University Magazine (İtüdergi). http://www.itudergi.itu.edu.tr/tammetin/itu-a_2006_5_2_M_Guler.pdf (full text). 
• Picture gallery from Turkey specialist

Sources

• (Book cover) Oktay Aslanapa (1991) (in Turkish). Anadolu'da ilk Türk mimarisi: Başlangıcı ve gelişmesi (Early Turkish architecture in Anatolia: Beginnings and development) ISBN 975-16-0264-5. AKM Publications, Ankara. 

Great Mosque and Hospital of Divriği