Great Mosque and Hospital of Divrigi

(Local Name: Divrigi - Ulu Cami) Often described as the "first Baroque work", Divrigi's Great Mosque has earned itself a place in architectural history. Standing side-by-side with the Ahmet Sah Darüsifasi hospital, a short distance outside the town, the plain-walled complex measuring 64 x 32m/210 x 105ft was endowed in 1228 by Ahmet Sah Mengüçoglu and his wife Turan Malik. Its builders were Hurrem Sah from Ahlat and Ibn Ibrahim Oglu from Tiflis. The ensemble as a whole ranks high among the most important early works of Islamic architecture in Anatolia. The three portals, of which the most famous is the main north doorway (one of the other two has been walled up), are exuberantly carved with abstract plant designs revealing Georgian and Armenian influence. The staircase pulpit made in 1240 is one of the most beautiful in the country. The five-bay prayer hall has sixteen pillars carrying stellate vaulting, while above the section containing the prayer niche rises a ribbed dome surmounted by a helm roof. Ahmet Sah Mengüçoglu's türbe stands next to the mosque.