Karatay Han

38.643888888889 35935Coordinates: 38 ° 38 ′ 38 ″ N , 35 ° 56 ′ 6 ″ E

Karatay Han

Karatay Han from the south side.

The Karatay Han , named after its founder, the vizier Celâleddin Karatay, is a Seljuk caravanserai east of Kayseri in the province of the same name in Anatolia .

location

The Karatay Han is located in the south of the Bünyan district , about 24 kilometers east of the city center of Kayseri north of the national road 300 from Kayseri to Pınarbaşı near the village of Karadayı . When it was built, it was on an important trade route from Kayseri to Malatya to the east and south to Syria, but from the 16th century the routes changed and its importance waned.

history

The building is a foundation of Celâleddin Karatay, who held the office of Grand Vizier in the Sultanate of Rum under the Seljuk sultans Ala ad-Din Kai Kobad I and Kai Chosrau II .

The covered part of the complex, the winter hall, was the first to be built between 1219 and 1236, the Han was completely built when the inner courtyard was completed in late 1240 or early 1241. In the deed of foundation of 1247/48, Karatay decreed that all visitors should be provided with approx. One kg of bread and approx. 250 g of meat. In addition, firewood, oil, candles and washing supplies were free.

In April 1277 Sultan Baibars I stopped with his army in Karatay Han during the fight against the Mongols before he died in the Battle of Elbistan.

With the change in trade routes, the importance of the Hans declined from the 16th century and the local population used it as a stable, among other things. The Han was first restored in 1964. At the end of the 20th century, the Han was acquired privately and renovated again in 2008. After the renovation is complete, the Han will be used as a hotel and restaurant.

Karatay Han, view from the roof to the inner courtyard.

architecture

The Han is a typical classic Seljuk symmetrical building, it is the fourth largest Seljuk Han. It consists of two interconnected structures:

It is a square building with a side length of approx. 48 m, in which there is also a square inner courtyard with a side length of 25 m in the middle. The building halls are approximately 12 m to 15 m wide. The entrance gate is centrally located on the south side. The so-called "Winter Hall", the oldest part of the building, adjoins the north side. It is 25 m wide and 35 m long and is entered through a south gate from the inner courtyard. The winter hall consists of seven transepts, the middle one being raised and crowned by a small octagonal tower. Lanterns were hung in this at night to orient the caravans. The walls and barrel vaults made of light-colored sandstone have largely been preserved in their original state. Six corner towers and twelve side towers are symmetrically distributed on the outer walls.

In the gateway on the east side is the grave of Celâleddin Karatay, separated by a decorated wooden grille. There is a second Karatay burial site in the Karatay Medrese in Karatay near Konya . Which grave is the right one is controversial. At the entrance gate to the east is the hammam (bath) and the treasury, in which the valuables of the caravans were kept. At the gate to the west there is a small mosque and the former medical station. The roof was designed so that as much water as possible could be stored, similar to a cistern.

art

Karatay Han, Seljuk snake motif on the inside entrance portal from 1240.

The two gates of Hans are decorated with typical Seljuk muqarnas , as can be found in Alayhan . At the top of the entrance gate is a white marble plaque with Arabic inscription that testifies to the construction under the sultans Ala ad-Din Kai Kobad I and Kai Chosrau II: This building belongs to God, who is One, Eternal and Eternal, (and zu) Augustus and the great Sultan, King of Kings, the shadow of God on earth, Ala ad-Din Kai Kobad, son of Kai Chosrau, commander of the faithful in 638. On the inside of the gate there is a small marble plaque with the name of Sultan Kai Chosrau II. The portal is richly decorated for a Seljuk Han. On the capitals of the entrance pillars there are two lions on the right and two birds on the left. Beef heads and human representations can be seen in the frame above.

The decorations in front of the grave of Celâleddin Karatay and in the inner courtyard are striking: they are ornamental ribbons in Syrian style that end in dragon heads. In Central Asian symbolism, the dragon means fertility, harmony and order. Karatay Han is the only Seljuk Han with this type of representation. On the outer walls there are animal heads as gargoyles, the entrance gate is decorated with braided ribbons and braids. The depiction of an elephant in the entrance area is particularly unusual.