Known to have a history of approximately 6 thousand years, Kayseri continues to maintain its importance as the center of many civilizations with its historical castle located in the city square, madrasahs, mosques and covered bazaar.
The city, which continues to exist until today as Mazaka until the Roman period, then Kaisareia, Kayseriye after the Turks conquered Anatolia, and Kayseri during the republic period, thus contains works from every period of history.
Kayseri, which hosts the ruins of different civilizations and is one of the oldest settlements in Anatolia, takes people on a journey of history with many historical artifacts and structures in its city square.
Sahabiye Madrasa and Hunat Hatun Mosque, built in Kayseri Square during the Seljuk period, have managed to survive despite the centuries they left behind and continue to keep alive the traces of their period.
Kurşunlu Mosque, built by Mimar Sinan during the Ottoman period, as well as its covered bazaar and clock tower from the same period, almost challenge modern architecture.
Mehmet Çayırdağ, a historian and writer who conducts research on the history of Kayseri, said in his statement to the AA correspondent that every corner of Kayseri smells of history and that the city square is a history center.
Stating that there are works of many civilizations in the city square, Çayırdağ said:
“In 243, during the Roman period, Gordianus III built a castle in Kayseri. What we see now is the remaining parts of that castle. Approximately 500 years later, the city does not spread over large areas as it did in the Roman period. It becomes smaller and its population decreases. That is why the maintenance of a large castle is very difficult. During the reign of Justinian, in the 630s, the Byzantines narrowed the castle and pulled the city to a corner. This is the castle that the Turks inherited. We know that Alaaddin Keykubat renovated the entire castle in 1223 and added bastions. When we look at the inscriptions, Kayseri Castle was owned by Dulkadiroğulları and Karamanoğulları. “And there was Ottoman intervention. In addition, in the 1260s, Sahib Ata Fahrettin Ali, one of the Seljuk viziers, had the Sahabiye Madrasa built in the city. The beginning of the Hunat Hatun Madrasa was undertaken by Alaaddin Keykubat, and its completion and enlargement belonged to his wife Mahperi Hatun.”
Stating that important works from the Ottoman period are also located in the city square, Çayırdağ continued as follows:
“The Ottomans established a provincial center here for the first time. Only the Kurşunlu Mosque survived from the Ottoman period. Kurşunlu Mosque, built by Karaman Governor Hacı Ahmet Pasha during the time of Süleyman the Magnificent, is not just a mosque, but a large building with a bath, a madrasah, a school, a place of worship and an inn.” It was a social complex. The most important work built in the city during the Ottoman period is the Grand Bazaar. This bazaar first begins with the Bedesten. Kayseri Governor Mustafa Bey has it built during the time of Beyazid II. The Grand Bazaar appears with the Bedesten. Thus, Kayseri goes very far in trade. It was the same in the Seljuk period. There were many caravanserais around and it was at the junction of the roads. Both production and trade were carried out in various professions in the Grand Bazaar. During the Tulip Era, Nevşehirli Damat İbrahim Pasha had the vizier inn built in the Grand Bazaar. During the Ottoman period, commercial life was carried out in the large covered bazaar and inns on one side of the square. “The clock tower was built by the Special Provincial Administration of Kayseri Province at the beginning of the 19th century during the reign of Abdulhamid II.”
Emphasizing that Kayseri is almost a center of history, Çayırdağ continued his words as follows:
“Here we are faced with the meeting of all civilizations. In other words, it is like an open-air museum. You can tell a person who comes to Kayseri Square about all the civilizations the city has experienced without going anywhere else. When you look around, there are works such as walls, madrasahs and mosques belonging to every period that Kayseri has gone through. “We can see structures and memories from the Roman period in the city, followed by Byzantium, Seljuks, Danishmends, principalities and the Ottomans.”