Kumarcilar Han
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Kumarcilar Han (Gambler's Inn) is a caravansarai located in
North Nicosia North Nicosia or Northern Nicosia ( tr, Kuzey Lefkoşa ; el, Βόρεια Λευκωσία) is the capital and largest city of the ''de facto'' state of Northern Cyprus. It is the northern part of the divided city of Nicosia, and is governed by ...
, Northern Cyprus.. It is unknown when exactly it was built, however it is thought to be built around the end of the 17th century, is much smaller and modest when compared with
Büyük Han Büyük Han (lit. Great Inn) ( el, Μεγάλο Πανδοχείο ''Megálo Pandocheío'') is the largest caravansarai on the island of Cyprus and is considered to be one of the finest buildings on the island.. Located in the capital of Cyprus, ...
(Great Inn). Similar to all caravansarai, the entrance leads to an open-air courtyard, which is surrounded by a two-storey building, originally containing 56 rooms. Those on the upper story were used by the travelers, while those on the ground floor were used for their animals and belongings. Since then, the Kumarcilar Han has entered into a state of disrepair, is in danger of collapse. Efforts to restore the building have been hampered, due to lack of funds. As at January 2018, the Kumarcilar Han has been fully restored, and is used as a cafe/restaurant, as well as small shops selling local items. According to Haşmet Muzaffer Gürkan, the door of the caravenserai "indubitably" used to belong to a Latin building. A hypothesis about its name states that it was originally called "Kumbaracılar Hanı", after a subdivision of the Ottoman army, "kumbaracılar". It was recorded with different names at different times, in 1881, it was called "Kuchuk Khan" ("Small Inn") in a map and Rupert Gunnis wrote in 1936 that it was called the "Khan of Itinerant Musicians".


References


Bibliography

* . * . Buildings and structures in Nicosia Ottoman architecture in Cyprus Caravanserais Hotels in Cyprus {{Cyprus-struct-stub