Egirdir-han
The Eğirdir-Han , named after Lake Eğirdir and the city of Eğirdir , is a Seljuk caravanserai at the southern end of the city of Eğirdir in Isparta Province in Anatolia .
location
The Eğirdir-Han is located three kilometers south of the city center on the west side of the D 330 road from Isparta to Akşehir . Immediately on the north and east side it borders the Eğirdir cemetery, in the south it is separated from a new building area by a narrow street; the main street runs to the east, so that the Han can hardly be seen and easily overlooked. When it was built, it was on an old trade route from Antalya to Akşehir and Konya and was part of the Seljuks' caravanserai system.
Surname
Eğirdir-Han got its name from the lake of the same name on which it is located. Until 1982 he was called Eğridir Han ; a corruption of the Greek name Akrotiri for the lake and the city; thereafter the name was officially changed to Eğirdir. The names Keyhüsrev Kervansarayı and Gıyaseddin Keyhüsrev Han are also common in Turkey . They refer to the builder of the caravanserai.
history
Construction began on behalf of the Seljuk Sultan Kai Kobad I (Turkish: Alaeddin Keykubad ) in 1229 and was completed in the first year of his son and successor Kai Chosrau II's (Turkish: Gıyaseddin Keyhüsrev ) reign around 1237/1238. When it was put into operation, it was the third largest Han in Anatolia with over 3500 m² of built-in area. In 1298 the complex was almost completely destroyed by fire. Because of the increasing decline of the Seljuk rule, there was no reconstruction and the Han continued to decline.
In 1301 most of the stones and the collapsed main portal were brought to the city of Eğirdir. The then ruler of the area, Feleküddin Dündar Bey , had the old caravanserai of the city converted into a Koran school, today's Taş Medrese . Other stones were built into the mosque opposite ( Ulu Cami ) and in the city wall as spoilers . Over the centuries, stones were stolen from the caravanserai, so that today only the foundations and the one to three meter high outer wall can be seen.
From 1990 to 1993 excavations were carried out on the site for the first time, and a plaque with an inscription was found that attests to the year 1237. Furthermore, parts of the entrance gate were salvaged and integrated into the Taş Medrese.
In 2006 and 2007 the Museum Isparta carried out further excavations. Today the area is cordoned off and not accessible to the public.
architecture
The Han is a typical classic Seljuk symmetrical building, it is the third largest Seljuk Han in Anatolia. It consists of two interconnected structures: the main building was on the street, a square with a side length of 48 m. The gate looked east towards Lake Egirdir. These walls enclosed an inner courtyard 35 m wide and 46 m long. On the south side there were seven bedrooms with different widths and seven meters in length.
The winter hall was on the east side. It was a 45 m long and 27 m wide structure completely roofed over with a barrel vault . It was divided into a central aisle, from which seven bedrooms (approx. 10 × 6 m) branched off to the right and left. The center was crowned by a dome, similar to the layout of the Karatay Han .
The Han today
The Hans grounds appear neglected and overgrown. No further research is planned since the last research in 2007. There are no plans to open the site to the public.
Egirdir-han; North side towards the city.
Egirdir-han; Looking west.
See also
literature
- Kurt Erdmann : The Anatolian Karavansaray of the 13th century ; Berlin, 1961
- Hakkı Acun: Anadolu Selçuklu Dönemi Kervansarayları (Caravanserais of the Anatolian Seljuks) ; Ankara: Kültür ve Turizm Bakanlı, 2007