Niğde

Niğde stands between the volcanic plateau of Cappadocia and the Taurus Mountains. Its citadel overlooks a town whose roads connect central Anatolia with the passes toward Cilicia. Under the Seljuks it became an important regional urban centre, leaving stone monuments such as the Alaeddin Mosque, built in 1223. Its carved portal and minaret remain prominent features of the old town.

After the Seljuk sultanate declined, Niğde came under the Karamanid dynasty. In 1409–1410 the governor Alaeddin Ali Bey commissioned the Ak Medrese, a religious school named for the pale stone of its richly decorated monumental entrance. Ottoman forces incorporated the town in 1470–1471. Its mosques, schools and market continued to serve the many surrounding farming villages and the roads leading through southern Cappadocia.