Unfinished restoration process of iconic site to continue

SİVAS

The unfinished restoration process of a UNESCO-listed mosque complex located in the Central Anatolian province of Sivas will continue after four years of a break.

The restoration of the 800-year-old Divriği Great Mosque and Şifaiye Madrasah was started in 2017, however, it was stopped after two years for financial reasons.

Sivas Governor Salih Ayhan said the restoration of the site, bearing traces of Seljuk architecture and amazing visitors with its dazzling stone carvings, will continue.

Ayhan stated that a new tender was made for the continuation of the restoration last year and that the firm recently started preparations for the process.

The governor also said the approximate price envisaged for the tender is 60 million Turkish Liras ($4.3 million).

“The work has an important place in Divriği, which is a center for cultural and religious tourism. Hopefully, we will both revive it and create an environment that will allow visitors from all over the world to come,” Ayhan said.

He also noted that preserving the work of ancestors and passing it on to future generations is one of his most basic duties.

Designed and built by architect Hürrem Şah bin Muğis El-Hılatî of Ahlat on the orders of Emir Ahmed Shah, the ruler of the Mengujekids in 1229, the complex was built in honor of the Turkish victory against the Byzantine Empire in the Battle of Manzikert in 1071.

The masterpiece with its two domed mosques, hospital and tomb, was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1985.