Obruk Han

The Obruk Hanı, named after the giant doline (Turkish obruk) that lies behind the caravanserai, is a Seljuk caravanserai northeast of Konya in the eponymous province in Anatolia. The original name is no longer known; however, it is certain that it was already referred to as Obruk Hanı by Mevlânâ around 1250.

Location

The Obruk Hanı is located in the far northeast of the district of Karatay. It lies about 75 kilometres northeast of the city centre of Konya and approximately 82 kilometres west of Aksaray, four kilometres north of national road 300 from Konya to Aksaray, south of the village of Obruk. At the time of its construction it was on the important trade route from Konya to Kayseri.

Obruk Hanı can only be visited from the outside; the interior is closed off because of the danger of art thieves.

Next to the caravanserai there is an old Ottoman cemetery that is no longer used.

History

The construction date of the caravanserai is not known. Scholars assume a construction period between 1220 and 1250, since Obruk Hanı lies between Saddedin Hanı (built 1236) and Sultanhanı (built 1229).

Obruk Hanı is mentioned in several historical sources, such as in the writings of Mevlânâ, who lived in Anatolia from 1227 to 1273.

Pervâne Mu‘in al-Din Suleyman, an advisor to the Seljuk sultan Kılıç Arslan IV (died 1265), reports fighting near the Obruk Han.

Records under Sultan Izz ad-Din Kai Kaus II from the years 1246 to 1256 report that Mongol riders had taken Obruk Hanı.

The building was severely damaged by several earthquakes, causing, among other things, the ceiling to collapse.

In 1996 the University of Selçuk surveyed the caravanserai with the surrounding area and carried out excavations. In September 2007 a comprehensive renovation began, during which the outer walls and the entrance portal were restored. A destroyed southern part of the wall was rebuilt, so that the caravanserai can now only be entered through the gate. Further renovation work is planned, but has not taken place since 2009 (status 2017).

Architecture

The caravanserai is a typically classic Seljuk symmetrical building, whose entrance gate is oriented to east‑southeast.

It consists of two connected structures:

A square building with approximately 35 metre sides, in which a central courtyard twenty metres long and fifteen metres wide is located.

To the right and left of the courtyard there are five side halls, each roughly ten metres wide. From the side halls mostly only the arches have survived. That the courtyard is larger than the built‑up area on the sides is typical for a Seljuk caravanserai.

On the west side the so‑called “Winter Hall” adjoins; it served mainly as accommodation in the cold months. This hall is about 30 metres long and 20 metres wide. The now collapsed cross‑vaulted support consisted of eight bays. These were three to four metres wide and nine metres long. Toward the centre there are feeding troughs for the animals. In the middle of the third bay from the west there originally was a small lantern tower, as known from Karatay Caravanserai; it is however completely destroyed. The wall to the courtyard with the portal has also collapsed.

The entrance façade is striking. In the centre there is an unassuming, almost five‑metre‑high archway, which is supported on both sides by Byzantine columns with an ancient architrave. The typical Seljuk muqarnas decoration is completely missing; this suggests that the caravanserai was built in great haste. The usual inscription above the archway is also absent. The archway itself was later reduced by about one metre. The gate area is built on two storeys and is – unusual for a Seljuk caravanserai – crowned with small crenellations. In the gate area on the second floor there was a small mosque, which received light from three small square windows to the outside. In the gate building there are still four square rooms, two on each side of the gate on the ground floor and on the first floor. These are probably a treasury in which the valuables of the caravans were stored, as well as a sick room and the quarters for the guards.

The outer walls are almost completely preserved in their original state. Exterior decorations are completely absent. The wall of the front building is reinforced by six buttress towers; in the winter hall, whose walls are somewhat thinner, exterior towers are missing. The only openings to the outside are the portal and the three windows of the mosque.

Art

With regard to its artistic equipment this caravanserai is unique.

With one exception Seljuk artistic motifs are completely missing: in the mosque above the gate there is a mihrāb (prayer niche), which, however, has been heavily damaged by art thieves.

Instead, the appearance of the han is shaped by Byzantine building elements. Thus the main aisle of the winter hall was supported by fourteen Byzantine columns, of which ten still stand. The entrance portal also stands on ancient columns. Likewise the courtyard was originally decorated with columns. Numerous spolia (building parts from other, older structures) are also found in the walls, a part of which comes from the ancient city of Perta in Lykaonia, others come from a Byzantine church and a monastery that were located near Kizören. Most spolia bear Greek inscriptions and display Christian symbols, but there are also Latin inscriptions. However, many spolia were lost through art thieves.