Döner Kümbet: An Anatolian Seljuk Mausoleum in Kayseri
Site at a Glance
- Rating
- 4.5
- Popularity
- Low
- Country
- Turkey
- Primary era
- Medieval
- Eras represented
- Medieval
- Civilizations
- Seljuk
- Site type
- Burial
- Remains
- Tomb
History
Döner Kümbet is an Anatolian Seljuk kümbet (domed mausoleum) in Kayseri, Türkiye, completed in 1276 for Şah Cihan Hatun, daughter of the Anatolian Seljuk Sultan Alaeddin Keykubad I. The Anatolian Seljuks were a medieval Turkish dynasty whose rule extended across much of central and eastern Anatolia, with Kayseri among their important urban centers.
The mausoleum stands on the Talas road in Melikgazi and is also known as the Şah Cihan Hatun Kümbet. It is owned by the General Directorate of Foundations and was placed under protection in 1980. Its Turkish name has also inspired a local legend that the monument can turn.
Remains
Döner Kümbet is built with masonry of yellowish cut stone set on a dark-colored base. Its cylindrical body has twelve sides, each covered with raised vegetal and geometric ornament. Fluted moldings rise around the body to create twelve pointed arches, whose enclosed surfaces carry differing decorative designs.
Narrow stairways approach the entrance from two directions. Above the doorway are two partly broken reliefs of lions with human heads. Beside the portal, a ruined relief to the left shows a double-headed eagle and a lion on each side of a palm tree, while another palm-tree relief appears on the right.
The upper part of the entrance façade contains a damaged double-headed-eagle emblem between two winged leopard figures with human heads. This concentration of figural reliefs gives the mausoleum the appearance of a monumental tent. An inscription is also carved on the monument.
