At the Bayezit I (or Beyazit, I don't know what spelling is best) mosque, also known as Yildirim Mosque (Thunderbolt, the sultan's nickname), this is an overview. The complex dates from 1391 and contains a medrese - now a public health centre, recognizable in its architecture, but no good for pictures - and a türbe tomb). His son Isa is buried here too. The sultan was beaten in a battle by Timurlane or Tamerlane (Timur the Lame) in 1402, and died a prisoner.

Aside from the mosque, the medrese (school) and the türbe (mausoleum), the Yıldırım Beyazıt complex included a small hamam (bath), an aşhane (soup kitchen), a misafirhane (hostel) and a darüşşifa (hospital). The latter was the first Ottoman hospital to be built; it functioned until 1864, when a new hospital was opened in the city. From 1864 to 1944 the darüşşifa was used as a ‘baruthane’ (powder storage).

Correspondent: J.M.Criel, Antwerpen.
Sources: ‘Vakıf Abideler ve eski Eserler’ - Vakıflar Genel Müdürlüğü, Ankara 1983
& ‘Türkye Tarihi Yerler Kılavuzu’ – M.Orhan Bayrak, Inkılâp Kitabevi, Istanbul, 1994.