Kirsehir (centrum) tombs

Kirsehir is a city which is founded on the Ankara-Kayseri highway. The tombs, which are located in a city which is rich in historical buildings, are considered to be insufficiently researched. Primarily the library studies and the research of the available tombs in person, which consisted of documenting by water-color copy drawings and photographs, have been completed. Subsequently the places of the tombs have been determined in the development line of Turkish tomb architecture by elaborately introducing each one of them in systematic catalog order and by comparing and assessing them each as a separate section.In this research, a total of eleven tombs were designated in downtown Kirsehir. But Suleyman Turkmani Tomb, Muhterem Hatun Tomb, Yunus Emre Tomb, Ahmedi Gulsehri Tomb and Kaya Seyhi Tomb have been restored completely and therefore have lost their originality. The tombs which maintain their originality are dated back to the 13th and 14th centuries.Whereas Melik Gazi Tomb, Fatma Hatun Tomb and Asik Pasa Tomb are detached, Caca Bey Tomb, Kalender Baba Tomb and Ahi Evren Tomb are attached to the structures of the same name.Melik Gazi Tomb, Fatma Hatun Tomb and Kalender Baba Tomb are octagon-planned, Caca Bey Tomb is square-planned, Asik Pasa Tomb is rectangle-planned and Ahi Evren Tomb is composed of two iwan-shaped structures and is L-planned. Only Melik Gazi Tomb and Caca Bey Tomb have got burial chambers.The tombs are overlayed by dome cones inside and by pyramidal cones outside. Different from others, Asik Pasa Tomb is overlayed by an octagonal dome and Kalender Baba Tomb is overlayed by a pyramidal cone both inside and outside. The materials used in the construction of the tombs in Kirsehir are generally stone and marble. The decorations are on the exterior and carved in stone. Only Caca Bey Tomb has got ceramic tile decorations on the interior.We believe that our study here would contribute in the preservation of these highly important works of art in our history of culture.