I am happy to be the first to review the Great Mosque and Hospital of Divriği after restorations ended in May 2024. The complex lies uphill above the Old Town; if you arrive by car it is best to follow local signposting to “Ulu Cami” to avoid the worst of the town’s narrow streets. There’s plenty of parking near the building. I don’t know whether it was like this before, but there is a landscaped park at the foot of the hill, from where you can admire the full complex with its characteristic hexagonal dome.

The building is managed by the Ministry of Religious Affairs, this means that entry is free but also it has all kind of “dress appropriately” warnings. A few local women and I were followed around by a zealous security guy, who seemed to take a particular dislike to females and was always in the way. There were only 3 men praying in the large mosque, so I think they shouldn’t overestimate the religious importance of the place. There is hardly any interpretation on site and also the plaque(s) seem to have been removed.

Everybody, including the Turkish muslim visitors who comprise the far majority, comes here to see the carved portals. The WHS inscription dates from a time when it all was about monuments (architecture), so it goes on about vault construction and a dome with an oculus. The decorated portals however, are what make the building outstanding. They’re so exuberant that it almost looks like Latin American Baroque. But it also reminded me of the Armenian Monastic Ensembles in Iran; it is thought that Christian masters worked on the Divrigi complex as well. There are now special viewing platforms to appreciate each of the portals, and it is worth sitting there for a while to see the light change or wait for the selfie-posers to move on.

The interior is open and has been restored as well. The former hospital had a similar function to that of the T-listed Sultan Bayezid II Complex in Edirne, but is small in size and it is hard to discern its former use. There was a fountain (for water therapy?), which has now been fenced off by some ugly posts to prevent people from falling into it. The mosque can be entered from the next portal (only for men?) or the main portal two doors down. I found it quite gloomy. Overall, the decoration scheme of the portals hasn’t been followed through indoors.