Sultan Han
Type:
Caravanserais,
Pishtaqs,
Portals,
Secular architecture
Date:
1229
Location or Findspot (Modern-Day Country):
Turkey
Description:
The Sultan Han, northeast of Konya in modern-day Turkey, is a caravanserai, a kind of roadside stopping point for merchants traveling between cities. It was built in 1229 for Seljuq Sultan Alaeddin Keykubad I (r. 1220–37). Its highly ornamented marble gateway (pishtaq) is 13 meters high and includes a muqarnas vault. From the courtyard, a similar muqarnas portal (this one with joggled voussoirs created by interlocking gray and white marble), leads into a covered hall with a barrel-vaulted ceiling. Travellers would have used this covered space to take shelter in cold weather.
Relevant Textbook Chapter(s):
8
Repository and Online Resources:
• Visit the page on Seljuq Caravanserais on UNESCO's World Heritage List.
Image Credits:
Wenwei Tan, Navid Jamali
