Eshab-ı Kehf Kulliye is a historical building complex in

Kahramanmaraş Province Kahramanmaraş Province kurdish( tr, Kahramanmaraş ili ) is a province of Turkey. Its provincial capital is the city of Kahramanmaraş, the traffic code is 46. Geography Kahramanmaraş is traversed by the northeasterly line of equal latitude and ...

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in ...

Geography

The complex is next to a cave in on a hill named Bencilus to Afşin ilçe (district) of

. Its distance to Kahramanmaraş is .

History

The complex is composed of various buildings built in different eras. The church was built by the

Byzantine emperor This is a list of the Byzantine emperors from the foundation of Constantinople in 330 AD, which marks the conventional start of the Byzantine Empire, Eastern Roman Empire, to Fall of Constantinople, its fall to the Ottoman Empire in 1453 AD. On ...

Theodosius II Theodosius II ( grc-gre, Θεοδόσιος, Theodosios; 10 April 401 – 28 July 450) was Roman emperor for most of his life, proclaimed ''augustus'' as an infant in 402 and ruling as the eastern Empire's sole emperor after the death of his ...

in 446. During the Sultanate of Rum, the Seljuk governor Nasretüddin built a

mosque A mosque (; from ar, مَسْجِد, masjid, ; literally "place of ritual prostration"), also called masjid, is a place of prayer for Muslims. Mosques are usually covered buildings, but can be any place where prayers ( sujud) are performed, ...

, a caravanserai and a fortified barracks between 1215 and 1233. Later, under the

Beylik of Dulkadir The Anatolian beylik of Dulkadir (Modern Turkish: ''Dulkadiroğulları Beyliği''), was one of the frontier principalities established by the Turkoman clans Bayat, Afshar and Begdili after the decline of Seljuk Sultanate of Rûm. Capitals ...

, a

madrasa Madrasa (, also , ; Arabic: مدرسة , pl. , ) is the Arabic word for any type of educational institution, secular or religious (of any religion), whether for elementary instruction or higher learning. The word is variously transliterated '' ...

(religious school) was added in 1480-1492 to the complex by

Bozkurt of Dulkadir Bozkurt of Dulkadir (also known as "Alaüddevle") (died June 13, 1515) was a bey of Beylik of Dulkadir, a Turkish beylik (principality) in Anatolia Background Dulkadir was a semi independent beylik under the sovereignty of the Mamluk Egypt. The ...

(also known as "Alaüddevle"). In 1500, Bozkurt's wife, Şemsi Hatun, commissioned a women's mosque. A pergola for the governor known as ''Paşa çardağı'' was the addition during the

Suleiman the Magnificent Suleiman I ( ota, سليمان اول, Süleyman-ı Evvel; tr, I. Süleyman; 6 November 14946 September 1566), commonly known as Suleiman the Magnificent in the West and Suleiman the Lawgiver ( ota, قانونى سلطان سليمان, Ḳ ...

's reign of the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

.Skylife magazine
/ref>

Seven Sleepers legend

The külliye is known as the cave of the

Seven Sleepers In the Islamic and Christian traditions, the Seven Sleepers, otherwise known as the Sleepers of Ephesus and Companions of the Cave, is a medieval legend about a group of youths who hid inside a cave outside the city of Ephesus (modern-day S ...

, where a legendary people lived in the 5th century.Ministry of Culture page
/ref> It is one of the many places which are allegedly the cave of the Seven Sleepers. An emperor who was influenced by their story had the church built for them. Later additions are also imposing. For example, the geometric ornaments on the gate which was built during the Seljuks cast shadows of a praying man, a praying woman and a

dervish Dervish, Darvesh, or Darwīsh (from fa, درویش, ''Darvīsh'') in Islam can refer broadly to members of a Sufi fraternity (''tariqah''), or more narrowly to a religious mendicant, who chose or accepted material poverty. The latter usage i ...

in during salah times.

World Heritage Status

This site was added to the

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

World Heritage A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for ...

Tentative List on April 13, 2015 in the Cultural category.

References

External source

Afşin municipality page (Images and multi-language summary)
{{Tentative list of World Heritage Sites in Turkey History of Kahramanmaraş Province Afşin (district) World Heritage Tentative List for Turkey Dulkadirids