Dating to 1218, this was one of the most important medical schools built by the Seljuks and was once Anatolia's foremost hospital. But it wasn't just built to help the sick. It was built to look good, and 800 years later it still impresses.
The decoration features stylised sun/lion and moon/bull motifs, beautiful blue Azeri tile work and a poem in Arabic composed by the sultan.
The main courtyard has four eyvans (vaulted halls), with sun and moon symbols on either side of the eastern one. Look to the right as you enter the courtyard to see the porch that was walled up as a tomb for Sultan İzzettin Keykavus I, who commissioned the building before he died of tuberculosis.
Today the courtyard is filled with the tables and chairs of teahouses serving çay. Come in the early evening as the sun sets and swallows scream between the minarets of the neighbouring mosques and you could imagine yourself in Iran.
