Sivas

Sivas is a city in central Turkey and the seat of Sivas Province. The city, which lies at an elevation of 1,278 metres in the broad valley of the Kızılırmak river, is a moderately-sized trade center and industrial city, although the economy has traditionally been based on agriculture.

Sivas contains some of the finest remains of 13th-century Seljuq architecture. Of these, the medreses (madrasahs; religious schools) are particularly noteworthy: the Gok (Blue) Medrese (1271), which houses the local museum; the Sifaiye Medresesi (1217–18), originally a hospital, containing the tomb of its founder, Sultan Kay-Kaus I; and the Çifte Minare Medrese with its intricately carved facade and minarets. The oldest mosque is the Ulu Cami (“Great Mosque”), dating from the Turkmen era. Near the city is the Armenian monastery of the Holy Cross, which contains a royal throne and other relics.