Taşhan caravanserai, also known as the Hekimhani or Hekim Han, is located in the town of
Hekimhan
Hekimhan is a town and district of Malatya Province of Turkey. The mayor is Turan Karadağ ( CHP). It is located in the upper Euphrates in Eastern Anatolia. The district population is 25,629. Hekimhan is 1,075 m above sea level. The highest point ...
, near
Malatya
Malatya ( hy, Մալաթիա, translit=Malat'ya; Syro-Aramaic ܡܠܝܛܝܢܐ Malīṭīná; ku, Meletî; Ancient Greek: Μελιτηνή) is a large city in the Eastern Anatolia region of Turkey and the capital of Malatya Province. The city h ...
in Turkey. The building was built in 1218 under Sultan
İzzettin Keykavus I of the
Sultanate of Rum
fa, سلجوقیان روم ()
, status =
, government_type = Hereditary monarchyTriarchy (1249–1254)Diarchy (1257–1262)
, year_start = 1077
, year_end = 1308
, p1 = By ...
. Its builder was a doctor (hekim), and it was built as a commercial enterprise.
Architecture
The name of the architect of the caravanserai, Abu Salim ibn Abul Hasan, is recorded in a tri-lingual inscription. In the inscription, which is written in Armenian, Arabic, and Syriac, and dated 667 of the Armenian era, he is described as a Syrian and that the han was built as a commercial inn.
[Henri Stierlin, "Turkey From the Selcuks to the Ottomans", Taschen's World Architecture, 1998, p75]
In the 17th century, a second part of the building with a large courtyard was added by
Köprülü Mehmet Paşa, grand vizier of Ottoman Empire. The monument was restored several times during later centuries. It was used as a guesthouse which provided free food and accommodation to travelers for three days. This tradition lasted for centuries during the Seljuk and Ottoman Turkish periods.
The structure was heavily restored in 2007. Nowadays it is empty and waiting for visitors.
See also
*
List of Seljuk hans and kervansarays in Turkey
Below is the list of Seljuk kervansarays and hans in Turkey. Many kervansarays and hans were built during the Seljuk rule in Turkey. The list is in chronological order. (13th century) There was no clear distinction between the han (inns) the ...
References
Ottoman architecture in Turkey
Buildings and structures in Malatya Province
Buildings and structures completed in 1218
1218 establishments in Asia
Caravanserais in Turkey
Seljuk architecture
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