Turkish architecture

In their homeland in Central Asia, Turks lived in dome-like tents appropriate to their natural surroundings, and they were nomads. These tents later influenced Turkish architecture and ornamental arts.

At the time when the Seljuk Turks first came to Iran, they encountered an architecture based on old traditions. Integrating this with elements from their own traditions, the Seljuks produced new types of structures. The most important type of structure they formulated was the" medrese". The first medresses (Muslim theological schools) were constructed in the 11th century by the famous minister Nizamülmülk, during the time of Alparslan and Melik Shah. The most important ones are the three government medresses in Nisabur, Tus and Baghdad and the Hargerd Medresse in Horasan.

Another area in which the Seljuks contributed to architecture is that of tomb monuments. These can be divided into two types: vaults and big dome-like mausoleums.

The Ribati- Serif and the Ribati Anasirvan are examples of surviving 12th century Seljuk caravanserais, where travelers would stop over for the night. In Seljuk buildings, brick was generally used, while the inner and outer walls were decorated in a material made by mixing marble, powder, lime and plaster.

In typical buildings of the Anatolian Seljuk period, the major construction material was wood, laid horizontally except along windows and doors, where columns were considered more decorative.

Turkish architecture reached its peak during the Ottoman period. Ottoman architecture, influenced by Seljuk, Byzantine and Arab architecture, came to develop a style all of its own.

The years 1300-1453 constitute the early or first Ottoman period, when Ottoman art was in search of new ideas. During this period we encounter three types of mosque: tiered single-domed and sub line-angled mosques. The Junior Haci Özbek Mosque (1333) in Iznik, the first important centre of Ottoman art, is the first example of Ottoman single-domed mosques.