Gazanfer Ağa Madrasa

Audio Narration:

Construction Year:

1596

Location:

Fatih, İstanbul

Ordered By:

Gazanfer Ağa (Chief White Eunuch for Sultan Mehmed III)

Architect:

Unknown

Changes After Construction:
  • The complex was ruined in the fire of 1782; it was repaired in the same period.
  • After the fire of 1908, its surroundings fell into ruin; the structure was made usable again.
  • Repairs were carried out in 1943–1944; the structure was arranged with the function of a City Museum.
  • It was later arranged as the Museum of Caricature and Humour; following discussions in 1994 on the closure of the museum, the structure was preserved with its museum function.
  • Since 2014, the structure has been used for educational and cultural activities.
Prominent Features:
  • The complex consists of a madrasa, a tomb, and a sebil.
  • The structure is one of the early examples of small complexes established solely around a madrasa, without being attached to a mosque.
  • Within the outer courtyard there are a polygonal tomb and a sebil; the courtyard also contains a small graveyard consisting of graves.
  • In the inner courtyard there are porticoes resting on marble columns with baklava capitals and student cells around them; on the entrance axis there is a square-planned, domed masjid-classroom.
  • The fountain at the center of the courtyard was built during the 1943–1944 repair; the presence of a fountain in the initial construction phase is not certain.
  • Its very close location to the Bozdoğan Aqueduct increased the humidity problem in the structure.
  • In the waqf deed, the madrasa is described as having 17 cells; every morning after the dawn prayer, the students recite the Qur’an for the soul of the founder.
  • There is a poem by Şehnâmeci Seyyid Lokman on the opening of the madrasa and the appointment of its first müderris.