Twin Minaret Madrasa live cam

A camera on the city's emblem

This stream, one of several run by Erzurum Metropolitan Municipality in the city centre, covers the open ground in front of the Çifte Minareli Medrese, the Twin Minaret Madrasa, together with its two minarets. The building stands in the Yakutiye district next to the Grand Mosque and opposite Erzurum Castle and the clock tower, and it appears on the city's coat of arms. A Çifte Minareli Medrese live cam therefore frames both the skyline that has defined Erzurum for centuries and the daily traffic of people passing beneath it.

A Seljuk monument from the thirteenth century

The madrasa was built in the closing decades of the Anatolian Seljuk period, in the second half of the thirteenth century. According to the inscription on the portal it was commissioned by Hüdavend Hatun, a daughter of Sultan Alaeddin Keykubad I, which is why it is also called the Hatuniye Madrasa. The two-storey building measures roughly 38 by 48 metres and has an arcaded courtyard, four iwans and more than thirty rooms, making it one of the largest madrasas in Anatolia. The brick minarets with turquoise tile inlay rise about 26 metres, and the panels beside the portal carry a dragon, a tree of life and a double-headed eagle. The large tomb at the southern end is counted as the biggest kümbet in the city. Earthquakes and the harsh climate took their toll, and a major restoration begun in 2011 continued for many years.

What lies nearby

A few steps away is the Grand Mosque, a twelfth-century work of the Saltukid dynasty; the Üç Kümbetler tombs lie a little to the south, while the castle and the bazaar quarter spread to the north. Cumhuriyet Caddesi and the Yakutiye Madrasa are about ten minutes on foot. Workshops and jewellers in the neighbourhood continue the trade in Oltu stone, the local black amber turned into prayer beads and jewellery.

Good times to watch

During Erzurum's long, snowy winter the minarets stand against a white backdrop on most days, while in late spring and summer the early morning light from the east shows the facade most clearly. Anyone following Erzurum weather reports will find the camera useful on days of snowfall or fog for a sense of conditions in the centre. Ceremonies and parades concentrate in this area on 12 March, the anniversary of the city's liberation, and on 23 July, the date of the 1919 Erzurum Congress.

Twin Minaret Madrasa is a public live camera in Yakutiye, Erzurum. The stream is published by Erzurum Metropolitan Municipality. We do not broadcast or record anything ourselves: if the owner allows embedding, the stream plays here in the owner’s official player; otherwise only the owner’s own player opens in a separate window.

On this page you’ll also find the live weather for this exact location, the stream status (checked every 15 minutes) and other live cams nearby. Categories: City Cams & Squares, Landmarks & Tourist Spots.