Sultanhanı
Coordinates: 38 ° 14 '53.1 " N , 33 ° 32' 47.5" E
Sultanhanı is a city ( Belde ) and a district in Aksaray Province . At the end of 2018, the city had 10,208 inhabitants, the district 10,884. The district also includes the village ( Köy ) Yeşiltömek , which had 676 inhabitants at the end of 2018, 37 more than a year earlier. Fahri Solak (AKP) has been the mayor since the local elections in March 2019 .
caravanserai
The caravanserai is halfway between Konya and Aksaray on the D 300. Founded in 1229 under the Seljuk ruler Kai Kobad I , it quickly grew into the largest caravanserai in Asia Minor due to its central location on the historic Silk Road and the Seljuk caravan route .
You enter the caravan through a richly decorated portal in the northeast and come to a rectangular courtyard with a small mescite in the middle . Opposite the entrance portal, the stables are connected to the courtyard, the area of which again roughly corresponds to the size of the courtyard. The vaulted roof of the stables has 32 columns that divide the space into several naves. The pack animals and their companions in the cold season camped here. During the warmer months, people slept on the roof, which they could reach by stairs on the courtyard wall.
In the west corner of the courtyard is the hammam - the Turkish bath - followed by storage and kitchen rooms as well as some small living rooms. There are storage rooms for the goods on the opposite long side of the square.
In 1950, many parts of the building complex were destroyed by an earthquake, but they have now been restored.
history
The caravanserai was built in the 13th century. It is one of twelve caravanserais built by the Sultans of Rum between the then capital Konya and the second largest city of Kayseri . For these hostels, which provided people and animals with everything they needed, the merchants had to pay an annual tax.
