Kızılören Han

The Kızılören Hanı is a Seljuk caravanserai in the Turkish province of Konya in Anatolia. It was one of the Seljuk caravan stations of the Kesikbeli caravan route of the 13th century between the centre of the Rum Seljuks in Central Anatolia, Konya, and the port cities Alanya and Antalya on the Mediterranean. It was the third caravanserai on this caravan route 44 km west‑northwest of Konya and belongs to the group of caravanserais with an open courtyard and a closed winter hall.

Location

The Kızılören Hanı lies near the village of Kızılören in the area of the municipality of Meram in the eponymous district, south of the national road D 330 between Beyşehir and Konya. Coming from Konya one turns left after 39 km onto a small unpaved road and reaches the han after 20 m. At the time of its construction it was on the historic Via Sebastia from Isparta to Konya. The han can currently (2020) only be visited from the outside. The next han towards Konya was the Altinapa Han (now lying in the Altinapa reservoir) after thirteen kilometres and towards Beyşehir the Kuruçeşme Han, whose exact location is no longer known.

Name

The han is today named after the nearest settlement Kızılören (formerly also: Kızılviran), which today lies about 3.5 kilometres away. Regionally it is also known under the names Atlı Han, Kızılviran Hanı, Emir Kandemir Hanı (name of the founder), Hanönü, Yazıönü Hanı (mistakenly also Kuruçeşme Hanı in confusion with the corresponding caravanserai 6 km east). The name Atlı Han derives from the use of the building in the early 2000s as a restaurant and riding facility. This historic Seljuk caravanserai served for a longer time as a horse stable. The designation “Yazıönü Hanı” presumably refers to the location of the han “in front of the plain” (Yazı önü).

History

The construction was carried out on the order of the Seljuk sultan Kaykhusraw I (Turkish: I. Gıyaseddin Keyhüsrev); the money for it was donated by Emir Kutluğ bin Muhammed of Antalya (also: Emir Shah) or in Turkish Emir Kandemir. The caravanserai was begun in 1205 and completed in September 1206. Thus Kızılören Han is one of the oldest Seljuk hans. Over the centuries the han lost its importance and the caravanserai gradually fell into decay. Because the han lay away from settlements, it escaped the fate of being used as a quarry for other buildings (as happened, for example, with the Eğirdir Han). That the han was already a ruin at the beginning of the 20th century is proven by photographs by Gertrude Bell from 1907. The inhabitants of the surrounding area used the han as emergency shelter and as a stable for their animals. Rudolf Meyer Riefstahl also described the han as a ruin in 1930.

From April 2008 to June 2009 the han, together with the Küçük Kızılören Hanı, was renovated for the equivalent of one million euros (conversion based on 2008). Afterwards it served gastronomy in connection with a horse ranch. Since 2017 the han has been closed.

Architecture

The han consists of two connected structures, the “Summer Court” and the “Winter Hall”. The caravanserai is oriented from northwest to southeast. In the middle of a two‑storey entrance façade in the northwest is the entrance iwan. It consists of a 3.2 m wide gate, flanked on the right and left by two tower‑like buildings. The whole gate area is about fifteen metres wide and five metres deep. In the right side of the gate area there is accommodation for the gatekeeper. On the upper floor of the gate area are three rooms, the middle one probably used as a treasury and the left one as a small mosque (approximately 5 × 5 m), as indicated by remains of a mihrab (prayer niche). The small mosque (Masjid) on the upper floor is reachable via a stone staircase just left of the entrance iwan. To the right of the entrance, further rooms for staff are accessed by another staircase.

Behind it lies the “Sommerhof”, it is about 45 metres wide and 50 metres long. It consists of an inner courtyard 45 m long and 20 m wide. On the right and left there are four open niches with barrel vaults (so‑called iwanes), each 2.6 m wide and 6.3 m deep, opposite each other. At their contact with the winter hall there are two further rectangular rooms. Behind follows the winter hall, a three‑aisled covered building. One enters it through a slightly projecting crown door. This hall is 37.5 m wide and 45 m long. The raised central nave is 15 m wide, broader than the two side aisles each 11 m. The construction is supported by two rows of five columns each and a pointed barrel vault. Narrow slit windows between the arches on the south side serve as light sources.

The walls consist of two built‑up limestone rows, which in the middle were filled with mortar and broken stones, partly sedimentary rock. Primarily red polished tuff stone from the surrounding quarries as well as a small amount of spolia were used. In some parts of the walls wooden beams and lime mortar are used as binders.

Decoration

The building is simply decorated, only the door lintel of the mosque to the inner courtyard and around the mihrab niche bear geometric ornaments. The caravanserai contains virtually no decorations from the Seljuk period, a typical Seljuk muqarnas decoration is also missing. The ornamentation visible today largely dates from the 2008 renovation.