Topkapı Palace

a) Location and sections,

b) Its function and Importance,
c) Today's status as a museum
TOPKAPI PALACE
The Topkapı Palace (Turkish: Topkapı Sarayı or in Ottoman: ‫( سرايى طوپقاپو‬or the Seraglio is a
large palace in Istanbul, Turkey, that was one of the major residences of the Ottoman sultans
for almost 400 years (1465–1856) of their 624-year reign.
As well as a royal residence, the palace was a setting for state occasions and royal
entertainments. It is now a museum and as such a major tourist attraction. It also contains
important holy relics of the Muslim world, including Muhammed’s cloak and sword.
The Topkapı Palace is among the monuments contained within the "Historic Areas of
Istanbul", which became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1985, and is described under
UNESCO’s criterion iv as “the best example[s] of ensembles of palaces [...] of the Ottoman
period.”

1 NAME
The name of the palace was Saray-i Cedid-i Amire (Ottoman: ‫ عامره جديد سراى‬,Imperial New
Palace) until 18th century.[7] The palace received its current name during Mahmud I's reign
when the seaside palace, Topkapusu Sâhil Sarâyı (Cannon Gate Palace by the Sea) was
destroyed in a fire, its name was transferred to the Palace.[8] In Turkish current name of the
palace, Topkapı means Cannon gate.

LOCATION
The palace complex is located on the Seraglio Point (Sarayburnu), a promontory overlooking
the Golden Horn and the Sea of Marmara, with a good view of the Bosphorus from many
points of the palace. The site is hilly and one of the highest points close to the sea. During
Greek and Byzantine times, the acropolis of the ancient Greek city of Byzantion stood here.
There is an underground Byzantine cistern located in the Second Courtyard, which was used
throughout Ottoman times, as well as remains of a small church, the so-called Palace Basilica
on the acropolis, which have been excavated in modern times. The nearby Church of Hagia
Eirene, though located in the First Courtyard, is not considered a part of the old Byzantine
acropolis.
SECTION
Mehmed’s original layout, which consisted of four consecutive courtyards surrounded by
high walls, remains. Each courtyard served different purposes and was separated by a gate
that incrementally restricted entry, culminating in the most-private third and fourth
courtyards. The palace’s surviving buildings are generally low, one- to two-story structures
that changed functions throughout the centuries, so that some buildings, particularly in the
harem, are not always clear in their purpose.
First courtyard

The first courtyard (sometimes called the Outer Courtyard) is the largest and only public courtyard.
During the reign of the Ottoman Empire, any unarmed person could enter through the Imperial Gate.
The courtyard’s open space made it ideal for ceremonies and processions, and it was likely the most
bustling of the palace’s squares. Traces of workshops for Topkapı’s artists and artisans—carpenters,
tailors, calligraphers, and other guilds—still survive.

The mélange of architectural styles and decorations found throughout the Topkapı Palace is evident
in the first courtyard. For example, Hagia Eirene, which was originally a church during
the Byzantine Empire and served as an armory where weapons could be repaired (called a cebehâne)
during the Ottoman Empire, features a characteristically austere Byzantine brick façade. In the same
courtyard, the iconic Gate of Salutation, or the Middle Gate, recalls medieval European fortresses
with its pointed towers and crenelated walls. The Tiled Pavilion, on the other hand, shows the
influence of the Persian Timurid style with its polychrome-tiled iwan, a large vaulted hall enclosed on
three sides. The pavilion likely once had a sand floor for jereed tournaments, a traditional Turkish
equestrian sport, but it now houses the imperial collection of Turkish ceramics
Second courtyard

The Gate of Salutation leads to the second courtyard, also called Divan Square, which was the
administrative centre of the palace. Only official visitors and members of the court could enter the
space. Council members met several times a week to discuss state affairs in the Domed Chamber
(sometimes called Council Hall). The grand vizier (chief minister) led state meetings, and the sultan
sometimes listened in through a grilled window from a small room within the adjacent Tower
of Justice, the palace’s tallest structure. Council members could not see the sultan, but they would
have been aware of his possible attendance. The tower’s Neoclassical lantern also offered the sultan
a view of the entire palace and thus served as a reminder of the sultan’s omnipresence not only in
the court but in the daily life of the complex.

Topkapı Palace Museum: Tower of JusticeTower of Justice, Topkapı Palace Museum, Istanbul.©
The second courtyard was also home to the palace kitchens and confectionaries, which now display
the imperial porcelain collection, as well as the External Treasury, which exhibits the imperial
weapons. Like other objects in the Topkapı Palace Museum, the pieces in both collections were
either made by the workshops on the orders of the sultan, purchased at markets, received as gifts
from foreign dignitaries, or amassed from conquered populations. Items in the porcelain collection
show the extensive reach of the empire, with pieces acquired from China and Japan. Celadon from
China was especially prized as tableware because of the belief that it would change colour if the food
served within it was poisoned—a superstition that points to the Ottoman sultans’ perpetual fear of
assassination.
 Third courtyard The canopied Gate of Felicity leads to the third courtyard, or the innermost
courtyard, which housed the private residence of the sultan and the inner palace school. Only the
sultan, members of his family, his servants, and the occasional approved visitor could enter. Visitors
to the sultan could only go so far as the Audience Chamber and were expected to follow strict
customs. They could not make eye contact or speak directly to the sultan but instead would lower
their heads, cast their eyes downward, and speak to the sultan’s translator.


Topkapı Palace Museum: Gate of Felicity, Topkapı Palace Museum, Istanbul.©
Before Murad III moved his residence to the harem in the 16th century, the sultan’s apartments were
located in the third courtyard in the building often called the Chamber of Holy Relics. The name
derives from its role as a repository for Islamic relics, including the mantle, sword, and bow of the
Prophet Muhammad, all of which were obtained when Selim I conquered
the Mamlūk dynasty in Egypt in 1517, passing the caliphate to the Ottomans.
The dormitories of the royal pages, who were part of a hierarchy of servants to the sultan, are also
located in the third courtyard. Most pages were recruited as boys from the conquered Christian
populations via the devşirme system, in which boys were removed from their families as a form of tax
or tribute. After receiving new names and being converted to Islam, the brightest boys were assigned
specific roles and received a rigorous education while earning wages. They followed
a meritocracy and could attain such high positions as a grand vizier, but many men were freed at 25
and married a girl of the harem or a daughter of the sultan. The royal pages’ dormitories now house
parts of the imperial collections. The portraits of the sultans, for example, are located in the
Dormitory of the Privy Chamber, and the imperial wardrobe is in the Dormitory of the Campaigners.
Many of the objects in both collections showcase the skill of the palace’s artisans as well as changes
in techniques and in fashion. Viewers can see the marked shift in dress in the 19th century, for
example, through the wardrobe and the portrait collection, when European military garb replaced
the sultan’s caftan and the fez replaced the turban.

Fourth courtyard

The third courtyard extends to the fourth courtyard, which consists primarily of terraced gardens and
pavilions. It is home to the lushly decorated Circumcision Chamber, the Baghdad Pavilion, and the
Yerevan Pavilion. One of the most distinct structures of the fourth courtyard is the quaint gilt-bronze
Iftar Pergola, where sultans would break their fast if Ramadan fell in the summer. Many of the
Ottoman sultans had an interest in flowers and gardening, and the fourth courtyard gardens are filled
with tulips, just as they would have been during the Ottoman’s reign.
Topkapı Palace Museum: Iftar Pergola and Baghdad Pavilion

Harem

The harem was the living quarters of the sultan’s family and was divided strictly by sex. In the 16th
century, it became the sultan’s residence as well, when Murad III had apartments built there. Like
the rest of the palace, the harem was continually renovated and grew according to need. The
result is a rather mazelike layout and many architecture styles.
To enter or exit the harem, inhabitants had to pass through the paved courtyard of the black eunuchs
to the Main Gate, also called the Royal Gate. Black eunuchs guarded the harem and were probably
purchased in slave markets in conquered lands and castrated before puberty. Like the royal pages,
eunuchs received wages and followed a meritocracy, but unlike the pages, only a few eunuchs were
ever freed. Their living quarters as well as the Treasurer’s Chamber and the School of the Princes
surrounded this courtyard.

Past the Main Gate is the Paved Courtyard of the Queen Mother, the harem’s largest and most-
central courtyard. The queen mother was the centre of power in the harem. Called the valide sultan,
she was the chief consort whose son had ascended to the throne. She also had significant influence
over the sultan, who would stop in her centrally located apartments every morning to inform her of
the state affairs.
The sultan’s apartments were connected to the queen mother’s through a white-marbled
double hammam, a Turkish bath. One side of the hammam was reserved for the sultan and the other
for the women of the harem. The rest of the sultan’s residence includes a throne hall and three privy
chambers. The Privy Room of Murad III is the oldest and best-surviving building in the harem and was
designed by one of the Ottoman Empire’s most famous architects, Sinan. The domed space is
elaborately decorated with İznik tiles and calligraphy reciting verses from the Qurʾān. Another privy
room, called the Fruit Room, was added by Ahmed III and is uncharacteristically decorated with
delicately lacquered fruits and flowers.

Topkapı Palace Museum: Privy Room of Ahmed III (Fruit Room)Privy Room of Ahmed III (called the
Fruit ,,0

The sultan’s sons, daughters, brothers, and sisters also lived in the harem and occupied one of the
harem’s hundreds of rooms. The Twin Pavilions, for example, were likely the living quarters of the
sultan’s sons beginning in the 18th century.

The harem also had living quarters for female servants, concubines, and chief consorts of the sultan,
and the rooms were accessible via the Gallery of the Concubines off of the Main Gate. Many of these
women came as gifts or purchases from the slave market when they were young girls, and like the
rest of the palace’s servants, they followed a meritocracy. They undertook servile tasks while
receiving wages and training to either become a wife to one of the pages or a concubine for the
sultan. If chosen to become a concubine, a young woman could rise up the ranks and receive better
accommodations, substantially so if she bore the sultan a child. If the child was a male who ascended
the throne, the concubine would then assume the most powerful position of the harem as the queen
mother. Most girls of the harem, however, were freed at the age of 16 or 17 and married after their
training.

While determining the architectural plan of Topkapı Palace, palace and people and Ottoman
philosophy played an important role. In the palace’s architecture, Edirne Palace, which was built by
the Sultan Sultan Murad II on the Tunica River, was the source of inspiration. The Topkapi Palace
generally consists of the buildings reserved for the officials working in the palace, the residence of
the sovereign and the apartments allocated to state affairs. The building was built on the Byzantine
acropolis. The area around Topkapı Palace is surrounded by the walls, which are called “Sur-ı
Sultani”, which is 1400 meters long and surrounded by the Byzantine walls by the sea.The palace is
located on an area of 700,000 square meters. A large part of 700,000 square meters belongs to
Hasbahçe. The palace consists of two organisations. One of them is the Birun, and the other is
Enderun. The Palace’s venues, ceremonies and session plan are arranged in line with organization.
Topkapi Palace generally consists of garden, hasbahçe, harem, four courtyards and three mai doors.It
would be right to say humbly for Topkapı Palace because large expenditures have been used for
bridges, mosques, barracks, caravanserais and accommodation facilities. Mimar Sinan also built a
section in the palace.

FUNCTION
 Topkapı Palace was the main residence of the sultan and his court. It was initially the seat of
government as well as the imperial residence. Even though access was strictly regulated,
inhabitants of the palace rarely had to venture 4 4 FIRST COURTYARD out since the palace
functioned almost as an autonomous entity, a city within a city.

Audience and consultation chambers and areas served for the political workings of the
empire. For the residents and visitors, the palace had its own water supply through
underground cisterns and the great kitchens provided for nourishment on a daily basis.
Dormitories, gardens, libraries, schools, even mosques, were at the service of the court.
Attached to the palace were diverse imperial societies of artists and craftsmen collectively
called the Ehl-i Hiref (Community of the Talented), which produced some of the finest work
in the whole empire. A strict, ceremonial, codified daily life ensured imperial seclusion from
the rest of world.
One of the central tenets was the observation of silence in the inner courtyards. The
principle of imperial seclusion is a tradition that was probably continued from the Byzantine
court. It was codified by Mehmed II in 1477 and 1481 in the Kanunname Code, which
regulated the rank order of court officials, the administrative hierarchy, and protocol
matters.[19] This principle of increased seclusion over time was reflected in the construction
style and arrangements of various halls and buildings. The architects had to ensure that even
within the palace, the sultan and his family could enjoy a maximum of privacy and discretion,
making use of grilled windows and building secret passageways.

MUSEUM
Mustafa Kemal Atatürk provided the proper transformation of Topkapı Palace into a
museum. But the function of the museum dates back to 1839-1861, the time of Sultan
Abdülmecid. At that time, it was a tradition to show old works to state elders and foreigners.
Afterwards, Sultan Abdülaziz started to showcase artefacts in the empirical style by building
glass windows. Topkapı Palace was officially converted into a museum by Mustafa Kemal
Atatürk on 3 April 1924 when the Ottoman monarchy was abolished in 1922. Nowadays it is
open to visitors. It is possible to see beautiful artefacts when you go here. In the palace;
Specially produced clothes of the Ottoman dynasty, Turkish jewellery from different periods,
jewellery from Europe and India, state medallions, candlesticks made of gold, Topkapı
daggers, jewellery, ceramics, sacred relics are exhibited.

Istanbul: City of Kulliyes a) Its meaning b) Architectural features and

parts c) The identity it brought to the city d) Mention some Külliyes in
Istanbul
Külliye

A külliye (Ottoman Turkish: ‫ ) كلي"ة‬is a complex of buildings associated with Turkish architecture
centered on a mosque and managed within a single institution, often based on a waqf (charitable
foundation) and composed of a madrasa, a Dar al-Shifa ("clinic"), kitchens, bakery, Turkish bath,
other buildings for various charitable services for the community and further annexes. The term is
derived from the Arabic word kull "all".
The tradition of külliye is particularly marked in Turkish architecture, within Seljuq –
particularly Ottoman Empire and also Timurid architectural legacies.

History
The külliyye concept is based on the earliest form of the mosque. The mosque was not only used as a
house of praying but also as a place for eating, teaching and as a hostel for the poor. The structure of
the külliyye derived from such concept. Instead of using one mosque for various services, other
buildings were built to center on the mosque that provided the specific services. The services
expanded and "were incorporated under one foundation document, and each housed its own
building within an enclosure" . This included the foundation of hospitals, law schools, preparatory
college and a medical school among other services.
The majority of külliyye were constructed and designed by architect Sinan. He was the master
architect of the Ottoman Empire for fifty years in the sixteenth century. As master architect, he was
responsible for all planning and constructional works in the empire. Sinan built most of the külliyye
in Istanbul. The külliyye built by Sinan set the pattern for other külliyye architects. Most külliyye
followed these patterns: they were "located at the important points of the city" and the structure
emphasize the religious center of the mosque. In addition, they were either "built on hills and sloped
lands, coasts or peripheries of the city".The reason for this is that külliyye helped create the
silhouette and landscape of the city. The külliyye were easily recognizable in that form and one is
able to marvel at them from afar.
According to Ottoman Empire law, the lands and the state belonged to the Sultans. ] As a result of
this, külliyye are usually built for either the Sultan, one of the family members of the Ottoman
Sultans or for the high state administrative officials such as the vizier or grand vizier. These
aristocrats became the employers of architect Sinan and many others architects. As employers, they
had a choice in choosing the location of the külliyye and had an input in its design; thus, they had an
influence on the construction of the külliyye.

Significance in Ottoman history

Külliyyes had an important impact on Ottoman society. Külliyye located in residential areas united
the vicinity and residents and it served them with its various functional buildings. There were so
many külliyye in the Ottoman capital (Istanbul) that they serve as the centers that introduce the
actual identity of the city. The külliyye came to be the cores of many cities in the Ottoman Empire
(especially Istanbul) and acted as important centers of cultural, religious, commercial and
educational activities. They serve as one of the symbol of power and achievement of the Ottoman
Empire.[2]

Administration
The administration of the külliyye rested upon the administrative officers also under the chief
eunuch in the department of harem at Topkapi Palace (Ottoman Sultans primary and official
palace of residence).[3] Among the administrative officers, the külliyye also had "religious officers
and teachers, porters, chanters, grave diggers, servants responsible for maintenance, including
the polishing of courtyards and window grilles, cooks, scullions, plumbers, lamp-lighters, a guard
against the theft of oil lamps, carpenters, masons and tillers responsible for the lead sheets
covering over 500 domes".[3] The staff magnitude illustrate the sophistication of the külliyye;
though it began with a simple concept, it had developed and become complex that a magnitude
of staffs and officers were needed to manage it. The kitchen was responsible for feeding the staff
and officers, as well as the students, travelers and the poor. This required an enormous supply of
water, which serve as another reason for why the külliyye were built near the coasts and
peripheral parts of the city.
Külliyye rose funding for the cost of the building and for the maintenance of such a vast
foundation. This funding or endowments were "raised by public subscription, including the gift of
various properties, ranging from entire estates to a mill or cottage". [3] The donors ranged from the
ruler (the Sultan) to office holders of greater and lesser ranks and then to the common people.
The ruler tended to be the most significant donor as he was capable of assigning the revenues of
a part of the realm.

Examples of külliyye
The greatest of the külliyye ever built was Süleymanyie Külliyye in Istanbul. [3] It was built
by Mehmed II and Suleiman the Magnificent.[3] The külliyye had "seven madrasas (schools), four
of each of the Sunni law schools, a preparatory college and one for studying the Hadith and a
medical school".[3] These madrasas incorporated their own courts, latrines and two houses for the
teachers. In addition, "there was a school for boys, a chantry, a hostel with stables, a bath,
hospitals, public kitchen, shops, and fountains".[3] Süleymanyie Külliyye stood out with its
educational services along with its religious services. The külliyye environment resembled a
university campus and it was the cultural and scientific center for Istanbul.
There were many other külliyye, but none of them came to the magnitude of Süleymanyie
Külliyye. Examples of other külliyye are: Sokullu Mehmet Pasha Külliyye, Zal Mahmut Pasha
Külliyye and Mihrimah Sultan Külliyye etc. [2] The Sokullu Mehmet Pasha Külliyye consists of a
mosque, madrasa and a dervish lodge. The Zal Mahmut Pasha Külliyye consists of a mosque,
madrasa, mausoleum and fountain. Finally, the Mihrimah Sultan Külliyye consists of a mosque,
madrasa, mausoleum and Koran school for children (khan, public kitchen, and hostel).
SÜLEYMANİYE CAMİ VE KÜLLİYESİ

Süleymaniye Külliyesi is a multi-functional complex founded by Sultan Süleyman I in

Istanbul. In terms of size and visual impact, the Süleymaniye represents the apex of
Ottoman imperial architecture executed in the capital city.

An inscription plaque on site dates the foundation of the building to 1550/957 AH

and its inauguration to 1557/964 AH, although other documents make clear that
certain buildings in the complex were not finished until 1559/966 AH.1 The complex
includes a mosque, the mausoleums of Sultan Süleyman I and his wife Haseki
Hürrem Sultan, four madrasas dedicated to the four schools of Islamic law, one
madrasa dedicated to hadith studies, a Qur’an school, a medical school, a hospital, a
hospice, a public kitchen, baths, and fountains. Finally, the architect was given a
tomb on the grounds of his own design.

The building of the mosque was an immense undertaking. From information gathered
from archival records, free paid laborers, recruits from the military, and enslaved
people all contributed to the construction process. About half of the labor were
Christian and half Muslim, pointing to the relative religious diversity of the Ottoman
Empire at the time.2
Layout

The complex sits on the site of the first Ottoman palace, known as the Old Palace, on
one of Istanbul’s seven hills toward the shore of the Golden Horn, above Eminönü.
This site is one of the highest points in the old city of Istanbul and commands views
over the Golden Horn to the north, as well as the Marmara to the south. It is also
highly visible from these bodies of water, its slender minarets and ample dome
towering over the city and even overshadowing the silhouette of Hagia Sophia itself,
the preeminent source of inspiration and competition for Ottoman architects after the
conquest of Constantinople.3

The complex is laid out on an irregular plot of land conforming to the topography of
the site, which was terraced and uneven. The positioning of the various buildings
that make up the complex, which strives for symmetry but is not completely
symmetrical, is a result of the nature of the site.4 At the center and highest point of
the area is a nearly rectangular enclosure inside which sit the mosque and,
immediately to the southeast, the imperial tombs. The enclosure is delimited by a
wall on three of its sides and a platform on the fourth (southeast) side. The area
between the mosque and mausoleums and the enclosure walls are left open as a
park. Paths lead from gates on the enclosure walls to various points around the
mosque’s perimeter, some cutting straight and others diagonally across the green.

Outside the enclosure wall is a public avenue that follows the U-shaped path of the
wall. On this avenue sit the various service buildings associated with the complex, all
built according to the same northwest-southeast alignment of the mosque and its
surrounding rectangular enclosure. Two madrasas, the medical school, and the
hospital line the southwestern arm of the avenue; the hospice and guest house line
the northwestern arm; and two other madrasas line the northeastern arm. At the
end of this arm lies the hadith school, which extends along a street that runs directly
south, taking the form of an appendage oriented differently than the other buildings
on the campus.

Mosque

The mosque represents the culmination of the Ottoman style that had been
developing in the previous century. It comprises a grand prayer hall in the form of a
domed cube and a large open court that precedes the prayer hall on the
northwestern side. The main entrance to the courtyard is through a monumental
portal on the northwestern façade, which funnels visitors through a gate surmounted
by a muqarnas hood. The courtyard is rectangular, paved with marble slabs, and
surrounded on three sides by a low, domed arcade. The portico of the prayer hall,
taller and grander than the other three arms of the arcade, occupies the fourth side
of the courtyard. At the center of the courtyard is a fountain in the form of a
rectangular cube, made of intricately worked marble screens and panels.
The prayer hall façade consists of a nine-bay portico. Under each bay, two windows
open onto the court, one near ground level and one on a second story. The windows
on the ground floor are all surmounted by inscription plaques. In the central bay, a
large portal covered by a muqarnas hood ushers visitors into the prayer hall. From
the courtyard, one gets a view of the prayer hall domes, arranged as a pyramid. The
large central dome is bolstered by flying buttresses on the drum which sit on the two
semidomes and two arches opening below. Below these on either side, five smaller
domes indicate bays on the interior of the mosque, and add to the sculptural feeling
of the roof.

The prayer hall consists of a central square bay surmounted by a very large dome
supported by four arches resting in turn on massive pillars. To the northwest and
southeast, this lofty space is extended through the arches by semi-domes that cover
long, rectangular bays, one housing the mihrab and another the entrance portal. To
the southwest and northeast, the height of the ceiling falls, and triple arches below
the springing of the large arches supporting the dome lead onto aisles five bays long,
with each bay covered by a smaller dome. Light streams into the prayer hall through
windows lining the drum of the central dome, the two semidomes, and in the walls
filling in two side arches, as well as windows lower down. It is a bright, open space,
creating a feeling of lightness and airiness throughout, and represents a monumental
achievement given the size of the dome.

The mausolea

Directly behind the qibla wall of the mosque is a square enclosure whose side walls
align with those of the prayer hall. Within the enclosure, two domed octagonal
pavilions mark the resting places of Sultan Süleyman and his wife Hürrem
Sultan. Süleyman's tomb is the more architecturally elaborate of the two, with an
arcaded veranda wrapping around its exterior.

The madrasas

The four madrasas devoted to Islamic law take nearly the same plan, based on the
traditional form of this building type: a central courtyard surrounded by an arcade
gives onto small cells around the perimeter of the building. Each cell and the bays of
the arcade that front them are covered by small domes. On the southwest side of the
courtyards, a larger domed room serves as the study hall (dershane). The first and
second madrasas (on the southwest side of the complex) are two separate buildings
divided by a small alleyway. The third and fourth madrasas (on the northeast side of
the complex) are actually joined together by a narrow courtyard, and are fronted by
a row of shops that line the avenue separating madrasas from the enclosure wall
around the central mosque-mausoleum complex. The third and fourth madrasas also
do not have an arcade on the southwestern wall of their central courtyard, but rather
flights of stairs leading up to the domed dershanes, whose entrances are on the
sides at the top of the stairs to accommodate for the sharp slope of the hill on which
these madrasas sit.

Adjoining the northeastern wall of the second madrasa (on the southwestern side of
the complex) is the medical madrasa. It takes the form of a large open courtyard
with a row of rooms on its northeastern side.

The hadith madrasa also takes an irregular form: it consists of a row of cells fronted
by an arcaded, domed portico that extends like an arm from the southern corner of
the mosque-mausolea enclosure at a bent axis to the south, in line with an access
road. The portico is eighteen bays long and there are twenty two cells, so that four
cells extend beyond the end of the arcaded portico. Opposite the arcaded portico,
an enclosure wall with several gates leads onto a larger, irregularly shaped open
space below the platform on the southeastern side of the mosque-mausolea
enclosure housing the imperial tombs.

The public service buildings

The hospital, soup kitchen, and guest house line the avenue bordering the
northwestern side of the central enclosure. All three buildings are rectangular and
have a large inner courtyard with a fountain. The hospital, located furthest west in
the corner of the complex, consists of two courtyards surrounded by domed arcades.
The entrance to the building gives onto the arcade of the smaller, outer courtyard.
This courtyard gives onto larger domed rooms on its lateral sides and onto the inner
courtyard on the side opposite the main entrance. The larger, inner courtyard gives
onto domed cells on three of its four sides (all except for the side adjacent to the
outer courtyard).

The soup kitchen is organized around a central square courtyard enveloped by a

domed arcade. This arcade gives onto larger domed spaces on three sides, used for
storage and cooking.

The guest house is organized around a central, rectangular courtyard enveloped by a

domed arcade. The entrance is an iwan leading onto the courtyard arcade. Directly
opposite the entrance is a larger domed iwan, and the lateral sides also have iwan-
like spaces at their back corners. All other bays of the domed arcade give onto small
domed cells.