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 it suffered attack and devastation by the Mongols in 1242. The facade is an example of the way 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. Don't look for the tops of the minarets – they are gone, having succumbed to the vagaries of Erzurum's violent history even before the Ottomans claimed the town.

The main courtyard has four large niches and a double colonnade on the eastern and western sides. At the far end of the courtyard is the grand, 12-sided domed hall that served as the Hatuniye Türbesi, or Tomb of Huand Hatun, the founder of the medrese.