Antalya Karatay Madrasa

The Karatay Madrasa in Antalya was completed in 1250-51, as recorded in the inscription over its main gate naming Sultan II İzzeddin Keykavus and the corresponding year in the Islamic calendar. It was commissioned by Celaleddin Karatay, a powerful Seljuk vizier who had earlier served under Sultan Alaeddin Keykubad I and who is also credited with the Karatay Caravanserai near Bünyan in Kayseri and Antalya's Dârüssulehâ. Standing at the foot of Alâeddin hill, opposite the Kemaliye Madrasa, the Antalya building is distinguished among the city's Seljuk monuments by its domed central courtyard and the unusual richness of its glazed tile decoration. In its working centuries it functioned much like a medieval university, where students memorized religious and legal texts, debated philosophy and jurisprudence, and trained to join the educated administrative class of the Seljuk state.