Madrasah of Çelebi Mehmet

Merzifon Çelebi Mehmet Medrese or Sultaniye Medrese, built between 1414-1415 by order of Ottoman sultan Mehmed I and constructed by Ebu Bekr b. Muhammad al-Mushaymish. The medrese is located in the center of Merzifon district of Amasya. The first director of the medrese was Ferîdüddîn-i Dîvânî. The building is situated immediately next to the Çelebi Mehmet Medrese Mosque.

Features

The first person to examine the building from an architectural-historical perspective was a professor named Gabriel. According to the professor's research in 1930, the construction date in his book is AH 817 (1414-1415). The medrese has a large entrance gate. The original doors of the entrance are housed in the Ankara Ethnography Museum. Today, the entrance area has doors that do not resemble the originals later installed by Merzifon Municipality. Above the entrance gate there is a cylindrical brick-bodied clock tower erected in 1866 by Ziya Pasha, the Mutasarrıf of Amasya. The medrese has a square plan and is built of cut stone. Inside the building there are 20 cells.

The medrese was repaired between 1418-1419 by Emin Onuroğlu Ali Bey. In the 1950s the building was used as a children's and public library, municipal warehouse and music classroom, and in later years for purposes such as a wedding hall and Quran course. Today it is a venue for social and artistic activities.

Clock tower

The clock tower built on the entrance gate of the building in 1866 during Ziya Pasha's tenure as Mutasarrıf of Amasya has a cylindrical structure, while its dial is circular.