Karatay Madrasa (Tile Museum) and İnce Minareli Madrasa: Seljuk Masterpieces

Flanking the northern and western foot of Alaeddin Hill within a five-minute walk of each other stand two 13th-century Seljuk theological universities (medreseler) that today operate as sister museums: Karatay Madrasa (housing the Museum of Seljuk Tile and Ceramic Art) and İnce Minareli Madrasa (housing the Museum of Seljuk Stone and Wood Carving). Even if you only have three hours in Konya, do not miss these two buildings (both covered by Museum Pass Turkey).

1. Karatay Madrasa (Karatay Medresesi, Built 1251 by Emir Celaleddin Karatay)

Commissioned in 1251 by the Grand Vizier and statesman Celaleddin Karatay during the reign of Sultan İzzeddin Keykavus II, the exterior greets you with a monumental black-and-white striped marble portal (taçkapı) carved with interlocking geometric knots and stalactite muqarnas niches. Step through the low doorway into the central domed hall and look straight up:

• The Cosmic Starry Dome and Reflection Pool: the entire hemispherical brick dome is lined with thousands of turquoise, cobalt-blue and black glazed ceramic stars arranged in radiating twenty-four-pointed wheels around an open circular skylight (oculus) at the apex. Directly beneath the skylight sits a square stone water basin; in the 13th century, astronomy students sat around this pool at night to study the constellations reflected in the still water.
• The Kubadabad Palace Tiles: the side glass cases display priceless eight-pointed lüster and underglaze-painted figurative tiles excavated from Sultan Alaeddin Keykubad I's summer palace at Lake Beyşehir, depicting double-headed Seljuk eagles, mythical simurgh birds, harpies, peacocks and cross-legged courtiers holding pomegranates.

2. İnce Minareli Madrasa ("Madrasa of the Slender Minaret", Built 1264 to 1265)

Three hundred metres west around the curve of the tram tracks stands the İnce Minareli Madrasa, commissioned by Seljuk Grand Vizier Sahip Ata Fahreddin Ali and designed by architect Kölük bin Abdullah:

• The Greatest Stone Portal in Anatolia: unlike geometric Karatay, the towering stone portal of İnce Minareli looks like sculpted drapery: wide bands of three-dimensional Thuluth calligraphy (inscribing Surahs Yasin and Al-Fath from the Qur'an) ribbon up the facade and knot together above the doorway beside giant artichoke leaves.
• The Fluted Turquoise-Brick Minaret & Stone reliefs: beside the portal rises the lower half of the famous fluted brick minaret inlaid with turquoise glazed tiles (its upper tiers were struck by lightning in 1901). Inside, admire 13th-century stone bas-reliefs from Konya's disappeared city walls depicting winged angels, dragons, lions and double-headed eagles.