|
Saruhan
 It is located
in the valley of Damsa, 5km southeast of the town of
Avanos in the vicinity of Nevsehir and 6 km north of
Ürgüp. The han is on the Aksaray-Kayseri route in the
east-west connection.
Saruhan, built
during the reign of Izzettin Keykavus I -maybe upon his
orders- in 1249, covers an area of 2000 m square. Yellow,
reddish pink and light brown regular stone blocks were
used as building material in Saruhan.
A decorative
look was achieved by using stone of two different
colours in the arches of both the monumental portal and
the inner portal. In the outer portal, the upper parts
of which partly collapsed, mainly geometrical
decorations were used like in the other sultanhans. Its
domed mescid, unlike other caravanserais, was built
above the monumental portal. The doorway of the mescid,
facing
 the courtyard, is decorated with squinches with
mukarnases. To the left of the large courtyard is a
portico with a fountain and to the right are the places
for accommodation and bathing. The small lines on some
of the stones used in the porticoes are stonemasons’
marks. The hall where animals and their keepers stayed
is similar to the ones in Aksaray Sultanhan and
Agzikarahan. The oculus, seated on pendentives is quite
plain.
The Han, the
upper parts of which have collapsed in places, was
returned to its original state with the completion of
its restoration in 1991. After Saruhan, one of the
latest examples of Sultahhans, the Seljuk Sultans did
not have hans built.
go back
|
