Hospital and school under one roof
A western wing that treated patients and an eastern wing that taught medicine, linked by a passage, since 1206.
Before it was a museum, this was a hospital and a medical school working side by side, from 1206 onwards, more than eight centuries ago. Kayseri calls the twin building the Çifte Medrese. The Seljuk sultan Gıyaseddin Keyhüsrev I raised it to honour the will of his sister Gevher Nesibe, a daughter of Kılıçarslan II who died young and asked that her money build a place to heal people. The result is two adjoining wings of cut stone joined by a passage: the western one a hospital that treated patients, the eastern one a madrasa where students learned medicine on the wards next door. That makes it one of the earliest purpose-built medical schools in the Islamic world, and Gevher Nesibe's own tomb is still in a chamber inside. The medical story is the best thing here. Mental patients had their own quarters where they were soothed with the sound of water, birds and music; there were operating rooms lit through openings in the roof, and an in-house pharmacy. Erciyes University ran the building as a medical-history museum from 1982, then the Metropolitan Municipality took it over in 2012, restored it and reopened it on 21 February 2014 as the Seljuk Civilization Museum, with interactive screens, digital displays and objects on Seljuk cities, architecture, science and dress, plus a children's corner with short films and games. The same year the building went onto Turkey's UNESCO Tentative List with the other Anatolian Seljuk madrasas. Do not expect breathtaking treasures; the real value is the building itself: the two courtyards, the iwans, the bare grey stone that defines Anatolian Seljuk architecture, and an unusual quiet in the middle of a loud city. Labels are primarily in Turkish, so do not count on much English. An hour to ninety minutes is plenty, and it suits families: essentially one level, wide passages, and a pushchair rolls through the courtyards with a few stone thresholds at the room doors. It sits in the heart of Kayseri inside Mimar Sinan Park behind the Hilton, five minutes on foot from Cumhuriyet Square and its tram stop, close to the citadel and the covered bazaar. Best folded into a morning walk around the centre before heading up Mount Erciyes or on to Cappadocia, and it is a good refuge from August sun and January snow alike. Closed Mondays and the first day of each Eid; the fee is a token sum in lira.
A western wing that treated patients and an eastern wing that taught medicine, linked by a passage, since 1206.
The chamber of the princess whose bequest built the place is still inside the complex that bears her name.
Quarters where mental patients were treated with water and music, roof-lit operating rooms, and old medical instruments.
Gevher Nesibe Mah., Tekin Sok. No:1, Mimar Sinan Park, 38010 Kocasinan, Kayseri
With two hours in the centre do all three, they are within walking distance of each other; with a single hour the citadel and bazaar come first, being free and livelier, while this museum earns its place when you want to understand who built old Kayseri rather than just look at it.
Reasonably so: under-7s go free, there is a children's corner with films and games, and the flat, shaded layout is easy with a pushchair, but do not expect more than about 45 minutes of their attention.