Sahn-ı Seman Medrese

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Sahn-ı Seman Medrese, also called Semâniyye (Eight Courtyards), is a large Ottoman madrasah complex in Istanbul that was built beside the Fatih Mosque as part of the Fatih complex. It was ordered by Mehmed II and completed in 1470. The scholars Ali Qushji, invited by Fatih to his court, helped establish the school, which became one of the empire’s leading centers of learning, teaching theology, law, medicine, astronomy, physics, and mathematics.

The complex included eight large madrasas and eight smaller ones, arranged around a square layout along the Fatih Mosque. Each large madrasah had 18 student cells around a central courtyard, a large domed classroom called dershane, and a fireplace. On the eastern side, there was also a hospital (darüşşifa) and a lunatic asylum (tabhâne) built with a similar design. In total, the complex had 216 rooms for students—152 in the large madrasas and 64 in the smaller ones.

Eight teachers (müderris) taught at Sahn-ı Seman and were paid a daily salary of 50 akche; this rate continued until the reign of Bayezid II. Students lived and ate for free in the Fatih complex’s imaret, while studying through eight education stages. The lower ranks were called suhte or softa, and the highest rank was danışman (learned man). Graduates could become teachers or kadıs (judges).

The medrese remained an important academic center until 1924, when Turkey’s Tevhid-i Tedrisat law closed Islamic schools in the state system. Since then the buildings have fallen into ruin, and four of the smaller structures were demolished after World War II to make way for a road. Today, the Sahn-ı Seman complex stands in a dilapidated state but remains a notable part of Istanbul’s Ottoman educational heritage.