Pictures in the medrese dedicated to Ümmühan Hatun, who was the wife of Gıyaseddin Keyhüsrev I and the mother of Alaeddin Keykubat I. She died in Konya. Her son Keykubat brought her body to Seyitgazi, where she was buried inside a medrese in accordance with her testament. She had this medrese built before she died. There is no information about her date of death and her life provided on the tomb.
This ‘Ümmühan Hatun Medresesi’ is a former Byzantine monastery (10th century), which was transformed into a medrese (school) by the Seljuk in 1208. This explains the somewhat chaotic and un-Seljuk looks of the interior.
In the 16th century the Bektaşi Order turned the school into a ‘Çilehane’. (Çilehane = House of ascesis, where Sufis would go to pray in seclusion).
Correspondent: J.M.Criel, Antwerpen.
Sources: ‘Türkye Tarihi Yerler Kılavuzu’ – M.Orhan Bayrak, Inkılâp Kitabevi, Istanbul, 1994.
Leaflet of the Seyitgazi Külliyesi (1995) , ‘Guide Fodor: Turquie’ - Edition 1988
& Personal visits (1995 – 1996).