The Great Mosque and Hospital of Divriği, inscribed on UNESCO’s World Heritage List in 1985, was commissioned between 1228 and 1240 by Ahmet Shah, ruler of the Mengücek dynasty settled in Divriği during the Seljuk beyliks era, and his wife Turan Melek. The design and construction of the monument were carried out by the architect Hürremşah from Ahlat.

The Gates of Paradise exhibition, composed of photographs by Cemal Emden, was organized to draw attention to the risk of extinction faced by the unique ornamentations of the monumental portals of the Great Mosque and Hospital and to raise public awareness. The exhibition was curated by Msc. Architect Hasan Basri Hamulu, with consultancy by Prof. Doğan Kuban, who has been conducting research on the Divriği Complex since 1965 and authored the books “Gates of Paradise” and “The Miracle of Divriği” on this subject.

First presented between April 28 and May 29, 2009 at Istanbul Technical University Faculty of Architecture, Taşkışla Campus, in the Mimar Sinan Hall, the exhibition later traveled to UNESCO Headquarters in France, to several European countries, and to Brazil. Today, it is on permanent display at the Atatürk Congress and Ethnography Museum in Sivas.