The people working here were rightly proud of a place where food had been handed out to the poor for over 500 years. I entered early one morning, just before people arrived, so they had time to show me some of the other rooms, that now were for storage. They looked ancient, and were.

The building with a L-shaped ground plan, to the east of the mosque, was erected as a ‘Imaret’ (soup kitchen) combined with a ‘Tabhane’ (= ‘Misafirhane’ = hostel). The original complex was largely destroyed by several earthquakes and by fire, and had to be rebuilt. This happened in 1952-1971 for the last time.

Correspondent: J.M.Criel, Antwerpen.
Sources: ‘Vakıf Abideler ve eski Eserler’ - Vakıflar Genel Müdürlüğü, Ankara 1983
& Website of ‘dergiler.ankara.edu’ .