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Turkey

Medrese sights in Turkey

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    Çifte Minareli Medrese

    Lying east of the centre, the single most definitive image of Erzurum dates from the 1200s when Erzurum was a wealthy Seljuk city, before suffering attack and devastation by the Mongols in 1242. The building is under restoration until 2015. Its facade exemplifies how the Seljuks liked to try out variation even while aiming for symmetry: the panels on either side of the entrance are identical in size and position but different in motif. The panel to the right bears the Seljuk eagle; to the left the motif is unfinished.

    The twin brick minarets are decorated with eye-catching small blue tiles. The tops of the minarets are gone, having succumbed to the vagaries of Erzurum's…

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