When was the Gevher Nesibe Darüşşifa founded, and by whom? Read the history of Kayseri's Twin Madrasa, the music stories told about it, and what is known.
In the centre of Kayseri stands a complex made up of two stone buildings side by side. Known locally as the Çifte Medrese (Twin Madrasa), one wing of this complex is the Gevher Nesibe Darüşşifa, remembered as one of the early hospital buildings of Anatolia. Today it is visited as the Museum of Seljuk Civilisation, and it attracts people interested in medical history as well as those curious about the past of mental health care. In this article we look at what reliable sources confirm about the Gevher Nesibe hospital, the claims that circulate in popular accounts but cannot be verified, and what this history might tell us about how we understand mental health today. Our aim is not to write a museum guide; it is to understand, calmly and honestly, how people in the past responded to troubles of the "mind and soul".
What Is the Gevher Nesibe Hospital?
Darüşşifa is a word of Arabic origin that roughly means "house of healing". The same type of institution was also called a "bimaristan", "bimarhane" or "şifahane". In the Seljuk and Ottoman periods these institutions were usually founded through a charitable foundation (vakıf), offered care to patients free of charge and were funded by the foundation's income. In other words, rather than a state hospital in today's sense, they are better understood as part of a tradition of philanthropy.
According to the sources, the building in Kayseri was commissioned in 1206 by the Seljuk Sultan Kaykhusraw I (Gıyaseddin Keyhüsrev), in accordance with the will of his sister, Gevher Nesibe Sultan. The complex has two parts: on one side is the hospital (darüşşifa), and on the other the madrasa, where medical teaching is thought to have taken place. The name "Twin Madrasa" comes from this paired structure. The building was used as a health and educational institution during the Seljuk and then the Ottoman period, and today it is open to visitors as the Museum of Seljuk Civilisation.
We cover the general history of the darüşşifa, together with other Seljuk and Ottoman examples, in our separate article what is a darüşşifa. Here our focus is on the building in Kayseri itself.
A Hospital Born of a Will: The Founding Story
The fact that a woman's name stands at the founding of the Gevher Nesibe Darüşşifa is a striking detail from the point of view of medical history. In the Seljuk and Ottoman world it was not unusual for women of the dynasty to commission charitable institutions such as mosques, madrasas, fountains and hospitals, or to give their names to them. For example, the Divriği Darüşşifa in Sivas was also built in 1228 in the name of Turan Melek, daughter of the Mengujekid ruler Behram Shah, and the hospital in Manisa was added to the complex begun by Ayşe Hafsa Sultan.
In Kayseri's case, various stories are told locally about the content of the will and about the life of Gevher Nesibe Sultan. However, it is difficult to find a reliable primary source for the details of these stories. So what we can say is this: the building was commissioned by her brother in line with the Sultan's will, and it bears her name. The rest remains at the level of tales handed down from generation to generation.
Making this distinction may look like an unimportant bit of fussiness. Yet much of the information about historic buildings that circulates online becomes embellished over time and is passed on as if it were certain. When it comes to the history of mental health, these embellishments cluster especially around the idea of "treatment with music".
Was Music Used for Treatment at the Gevher Nesibe Hospital?
One of the stories visitors to Kayseri hear most often is that patients experiencing mental distress at the hospital were treated with music, and that some rooms had a special "music system". These claims are repeated frequently, especially on news websites and in travel writing.
We need to be honest here: the claims that music was used for treatment in the Kayseri building, or that the rooms had a special arrangement for music, could not be verified with academic sources in the research this article is based on. So one can say "it is told that..."; but one cannot say "this is definitely how it was".
By contrast, there is a firmer record for another institution of the Ottoman period. In his Book of Travels (Seyahatname), Evliya Çelebi describes how, at the Darüşşifa of Bayezid II in Edirne, an ensemble of musicians performed for the mentally ill patients three days a week. So we know that music was used as part of care within the darüşşifa tradition; but it would not be right to assume that the same applied in the same way to every hospital, and especially to thirteenth-century Kayseri.
When reading historical records, it helps to ask: whose account is this information based on, and did that person witness the events? Not every story we hear while touring a building that became a museum 800 years later carries the same weight as evidence.
The Medicine of the Time: Temperament, Elements and the Idea of Music
Seljuk and Ottoman medicine was largely based on the theory of the four humours (blood, phlegm, yellow bile and black bile) and temperament, inherited from Hippocrates and Galen and developed further by the physician-philosophers of the Islamic world. According to this theory, health depended on the balance of these fluids in the body; illness was a disturbance of that balance. Mental distress, too, could be explained within this framework, for example as an excess of black bile.
Ideas about the effect of music on people also developed in this world. Al-Kindi wrote a theory of music that linked the four strings of the oud with the four elements, the seasons and the heavenly bodies. Al-Farabi is counted among the thinkers who argued that music affects the human soul. Ibn Sina (Avicenna) devoted a section of his Kitab al-Shifa (The Book of Healing) to music, defining it as a mathematical science that studies sounds and the intervals of time between them. In later centuries, some treatises claimed that particular makams (modes of Turkish classical music) were good for particular illnesses or moods.
This world of ideas is historically very rich. But two things need to be kept apart:
- Historical belief: The physicians and thinkers of the time believed that music affected the soul and the body, and explained this through their own theories.
- Today's evidence: The four humours theory has been abandoned in modern medicine; pairings of the "this makam is good for that illness" kind have not been scientifically tested, and the lists contradict one another from source to source.
We discuss in detail where the lists matching makams to illnesses come from, and why they cannot be used as treatment advice today, in our article the effect of makams on people.
To understand the healing houses of the past, it is misleading both to compare them with today's hospitals and to decorate them with legend; the soundest approach is to separate clearly what we know from what we do not.
Visiting the Gevher Nesibe Hospital Today: What to Look Out For
If you are thinking of visiting the Museum of Seljuk Civilisation, we would like to share a few suggestions that may make your visit more meaningful. These are not a museum guide; they are rather questions that may help you look at the building through the window of mental health history.
- Look at the paired layout of the building. What does it suggest about how knowledge was passed on in that period, with a hospital and a place of learning side by side? Medicine was learned at the patient's side as much as from books.
- Think about the idea of the charitable foundation. Free care, philanthropy and social responsibility are concepts we still debate today. How a person in mental distress was received by the community gives a clue to why the institution existed at all.
- Note down what you are told, then question it. Consider the information given by guides or information panels together with its source. Asking "Is this based on a document, or was it told later?" turns reading history into an enjoyable piece of detective work.
- Pay attention to the atmosphere of the place yourself. Stone walls, the courtyard, the way the light falls... The feeling a place evokes in a person is real; but the claim that this feeling is "healing" is something else, and it requires evidence.
For those travelling to Kayseri to visit relatives during a bayram (religious holiday), students arriving on a school trip, or anyone seeing the city for the first time, this building offers a chance to look at the city's history from a different angle.
How Has Our Understanding of Mental Health Changed from Past to Present?
Darüşşifas are early examples of institutions in which the care of people in mental distress was considered. For their time, this was an important step. Yet today's understanding of mental health is very different in many respects.
Diagnosis and assessment
In the past, mental troubles were explained through general theories such as an imbalance of temperament, whereas today assessment is many-sided, drawing on the person's history, symptoms, living conditions and, where needed, standardised measurement tools. Whether psychological symptoms stem from a physical illness is also investigated through a medical doctor's assessment.
Evidence-based approaches
Today, methods of psychotherapy are tested through research. Approaches such as cognitive behavioural therapy have been evaluated in controlled studies for many problems. Music- and art-based methods are also being researched; for example, Cochrane reviews state that music therapy, when added to usual care, may reduce depressive symptoms in the short term, but that the evidence is of low to moderate certainty. So music and art still have a place in mental health today; not as a "prescription" that replaces treatment, but as a supportive element.
Privacy and rights
In the institutions of the past, a person's consent, privacy and rights were not defined in today's sense. Today, the client's informed consent, confidentiality and participation in their own process are cornerstones of mental health care.
Society's view and stigma
How society views a person in mental distress has also changed over the centuries, but that change is not yet complete. Today, in some families, "going to a psychologist" is still talked about in whispers; worry about what the neighbours or relatives will say can delay asking for help. Yet the founders of these charitable foundations saw mental distress as a matter the community should take care of, and set aside lasting stone buildings for it. This perspective is worth remembering as we tackle stigma today: struggling mentally is not a cause for shame, but a human condition that calls for care and understanding. If you notice that it is hard to talk about this in your own family or circle, even a small step, such as sharing a difficulty you are going through with someone close to you, can be part of an important change.
When Should You Seek Professional Support?
Reading history can also lead a person to reflect on their own life. The story of the darüşşifas reminds us that mental distress has existed in every age and that people have always tried to find a response to it. Today, that response is far more accessible.
If one or more of the following has been going on for a few weeks, you might consider speaking to a mental health professional:
- Long-lasting low mood, lack of motivation or being unable to enjoy anything
- Anxiety, restlessness or a sense of panic that makes it hard to do your daily tasks
- Marked changes in sleep and appetite
- Clear difficulties in your relationships, at work or at school
- A feeling that you cannot recover after a loss or a shocking event
These signs do not amount to a diagnosis on their own; but they deserve attention. If you are unsure whether to see a psychologist or a psychiatrist, a preliminary conversation with a doctor or a mental health professional may help point the way. If you are having thoughts of harming yourself or someone else, call 112 (emergency services) without delay.
How Are Art and Music Used in Therapy Today?
The mention of music as an element of care in the darüşşifa tradition forms an interesting continuity with today's interest in creative methods. Today, depending on a person's needs, creative tools such as drawing, music, writing or play may be used in psychological support. For example, a feeling that is hard to put into words may start to be talked about through a drawing or a song. We describe how music is used in this field today in our separate article on music therapy.
In individual therapy, these tools can act as doors that support conversation. However, the basic framework here is an evidence-based psychotherapy approach and the safe relationship built with the client. Listening to a song or painting a picture is not a treatment in itself; but within the right framework it can help a person understand themselves.
When creative methods are used, a few principles are observed:
- The interpretation of what is created belongs to the client; meaning is discovered together, not imposed from outside.
- The drawing or writing produced is confidential; whether it is kept or shared depends on the client's permission.
- Where needed, a psychiatric assessment and medical treatment are carried out alongside the process.
Frequently Asked Questions
When and by whom was the Gevher Nesibe Darüşşifa built?
The building was commissioned in 1206 by the Seljuk Sultan Kaykhusraw I, in accordance with the will of his sister, Gevher Nesibe Sultan. Because it consists of a hospital and a madrasa, it is also known as the Twin Madrasa.
What is the Twin Madrasa used for today?
Used as a health and educational institution in the Seljuk and Ottoman periods, the building is now open to visitors as the Museum of Seljuk Civilisation. For opening hours and current information, it is advisable to check the museum's own announcements.
Were patients at the Kayseri hospital treated with music?
This is a popular story, but it has not been verified by academic sources for the Kayseri building. Firmer evidence of music being used in darüşşifas comes from Evliya Çelebi's account of the Darüşşifa of Bayezid II in Edirne.
Is makam music good for mental health problems today?
Listening to music can have a positive effect on many people's mood. However, the idea that particular makams treat particular illnesses is a historical belief and is not supported by science. For ongoing mental distress, turning to a professional is a sounder step.
Bu yazı genel bilgilendirme amaçlıdır; tanı veya tedavi yerine geçmez. Yaşadığınız güçlükler için bir ruh sağlığı uzmanına başvurmanız önerilir. Acil bir durumda lütfen 112'yi arayın.
Eda Erkan Alapala
Klinik Psikolog. İstanbul Kent Üniversitesi Klinik Psikoloji Tezli Yüksek Lisans mezunu; bilişsel davranışçı terapi, çocuk merkezli oyun terapisi ve çocuk-ergen psikoterapisi alanlarında eğitimlerini tamamlamıştır.
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