TOMB OF GÖMEÇ HATUN

The historic documents state that Gömeç Hatun was the wife of Sultan Rukn al-Din Qilich Arslan IV, who was assassinated in 1266 by the Mongols. Although it is not known how long more Gömeç Hatun lived after her husband’s death it is likely that her tomb was built in the last quarter of the thirteenth century.

The tomb of Gömec Hatun is located in the Musalla Cemetery in the Kalenderhane neighborhood of Konya. The two-storey monument is rectangular in the North-south direction. It has an iwan rising on a high socle. The entrance façade with the iwan arch is wider and taller than the structure, thus giving a monumental character. Two flights of stairs rise against the socle reaching the middle of the iwan. The rectangular hall is covered with a pointed barrel vault; a mihrab niche is placed on the south wall.

Beneath the landing of the stairs leading up is a doorway with a lintel leading into the crypt downstairs. The rectangular crypt is covered with a trough vault and receives daylight via five slit windows on the east, west and south walls.

In the middle of the east and west walls is a spur-shaped triangular buttress each. The structure was built with bricks and stones. The exterior of the structure is faced with dressed stones on the lower half while its upper parts are of brick.

The tile decoration on the façade with iwan is very impressive. Extant remains indicate that the face, intrados, and keystone of the arch, colonnette capitals and spandrel were decorated with tile mosaic with turquoise and eggplant purple pieces in geometric compositions. Although it is very likely that the wide band framing the iwan arch was decorated with tile mosaic originally, today it is entirely plastered over. On the exterior, the tops of the remaining three side walls are furnished with crenelations, which enhance the decorative effect of the monument.