This is in one of the earliest Turkish schools of medicine, the Giyasiye Şifahiye (early 13th century). It can be visited and has its charm, but the display of what medical instruments and the like they have is pathetic. Compare the similar museum in the Beyazit II complex in Edirne: another world. The Lonely Planet Guide mentions that an inscription in the hospital stressed that no regard should be paid to the relgion of the patients, be they Muslim, Jew or Christian.

A lion-like (fable?) animal on one of the walls.

The figure of a ‘Lion with a man’s head’ can be seen on at least one other monument in Kayseri: on the Döner Kümbet (tomb) they are even two of them. This one (in fact: a mould of the representation sculpted on the monumental entrance of the Hospital) is thought to be a symbolic representation of (or reference to) sultan Kılıç Arslan II (Arslan = Lion), the father of Gevher Nesibe, who took the initiative of building the facility. But even without the literal mention within a sultan’s name, the lion has always been a symbol of royalty in the Near East.

Correspondent: J.M.Criel, Antwerpen
Sources: ‘Kayseri Kültür Varlıkları Envanteri’ (Kayseri Belediyesi 2008) .