Amasya Bimarhanesi

Amasya, Turkey

The Bimarhane of Amasya is dated to the year 1308/709 AH by an inscription in the entrance portal that mentions a certain 'Anbar ibn 'Abd-Allah as its patron. The monument is also known as the timarhane or darüşşifa (from Arabic dar al-shifa'). Today the Amasya bimarhane has been converted to the Sabuncuoğlu Şereffudin Tip ve Cerrahi Tarihi Müzesi, a museum dedicated to the history of medicine and surgery named for Şereffudin Sabuncuoğlu who was a surgeon and physician active in Amasya during the Ottoman period.

The building is entered through an ornate portal on its west side. This portal consists of an arched doorway within a shallow iwan surmounted by a muqarnas hood and framed with bands of vegetal and geometric ornament carved in stone. Within the recessed entryway are two smaller muqarnas niches surmounted by inscription bands.

The portal leads onto the building's central courtyard through a vestibule that doubles as an iwan opening onto the west side of the building's central courtyard. The courtyard is oblong and rectangular, the west and east sides being shorter than the north and south sides, which are bordered by arcades. On the east side, a large iwan opens facing the vestibule-iwan.

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