AMonumentIndependent states
Great Mosque and Hospital of Divriği
A mosque-and-hospital complex of 1228–1229 whose carved stone portals are considered unique in the world. A UNESCO site since 1985.
Divriği is in Sivas province. Here Ahmad Shah, the Mengujekid ruler, built the mosque, and his wife Turan Malik built the adjoining darüşşifa — a hospital.
The four stone portals are carved so deeply with plant and geometric motifs that the stone looks like woven fabric. At certain times of day the shadow of the carvings on one portal resembles the silhouette of a person at prayer.
Together with Istanbul and Göreme, the Great Mosque and Hospital of Divriği became in 1985 the first sites in Türkiye inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List.
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Updated: October 2, 2026