Architecture

The Huand (Mahperi) Hatun tomb is situated in a complex of the same name in Kayseri. The complex, composed of a mosque, a madrasa, the tomb and a bathhouse, is located to the west of the citadel. The tomb is placed in the small courtyard in the northwest corner of the mosque where it adjoins the madrasa. This courtyard is accessed from the western portal of the mosque. There is no entrance to the tomb from the courtyard; it is accessible only from the southeast corner room of the madrasa via a flight of stairs. On the exterior of the wall of the madrasa where the tomb is attached (on the right and left sides of the short passage that links the inner chamber of the tomb and the southeast corner room of the madrasa), there are the remains of an older structure. According to Haluk Karamağaralı, the Huand Hatun tomb was probably constructed on the site of an older, non-Islamic, structure which was preserved while the madrasa (the oldest structure in the complex, according to Karamağaralı) was built. Karamağaralı suggested that this older structure might have been part of another, larger, building which was placed to its south but which was removed when the madrasa was built. The remaining little structure may have acquired an Islamic meaning and/or funerary function in time. Because of such a meaning or function, Karamağaralı argues, it was preserved while the madrasa was constructed but was eventually demolished to make way for the Huand Hatun tomb, sometime in the second half of the thirteenth century. The existence of this older structure also likely influenced the plan of the mosque that was built after the madrasa.

The tomb consists of a square base, an octagonal body and a conical dome. The octagonal body and the dome are constructed of ashlar masonry. The square base measures 8.98 meters by 9.05 meters and rises 2.20 meters above the floor level. For the body and the dome the black basalt stone was used. There are six windows on the octagonal body, one on each side except the entrance side and the adjacent southern side.

There are three cenotaphs in the mausoleum. One of these has a gabled form and is in marble.  It belongs to Khwand Khatun (Huand Hatun) who was also known as Mahpari Khatun (Mahperi Hatun) and has a dedicatory epitaph but no date. The cenotaph in the middle belongs to Saljuqi Khatun (Selçuki Hatun) who was the granddaughter of Mahpari Khatun and has an inscription as well. This cenotaph is dated 683 H. (1284) which gives the terminus ante quem for the construction of the tomb. The owner of the last cenotaph, which is close to the door, is unknown. There are also a number of tombstones in the courtyard of the tomb.

Even though some historians assume that there must be a crypt underneath the chamber, Orhan Cezmi Tuncer indicates that if the tomb had a crypt, its door would be under the staircase on the north. However, it causes the problem of accession to the main floor. The staircase was restored, but Orhan Cezmi Tuncer thinks that it would not be possible for the restorator to close the door of the crypt if it was there. Therefore, it seems that the tomb has not a crypt and it has solely the main floor.