The Sultan Isa Medrese (also known as Zinciriye, meaning "chain") is Mardin's most celebrated Islamic monument, a 14th-century theological school whose facade is one of the outstanding examples of Artukid stone carving anywhere. Built in 1385, the medrese's entrance portal is covered in intricate geometric and floral carving — rosettes, interlaced vines, calligraphic inscriptions — all executed in the honey-coloured limestone that defines Mardin's architecture.
The interior is arranged around a two-storey courtyard with arched arcades and a small pool. The tomb of Sultan Isa himself sits in a chamber off the main courtyard. The medrese operated as an educational institution for centuries; today it is open as a historic monument. The rooftop terrace, accessible through the building, provides one of the best viewpoints in Mardin: the city spreading below, the Mesopotamian plain extending to the horizon, and on clear days the outline of the Tur Abdin mountains to the east.