Şire Hanı

Şire Hanı is the largest of Gaziantep's historic caravanserais, built in 1885 on the order of Cemil Paşa, the Ottoman governor of Aleppo province at the time, as a public project funded through local taxation, with residents unable to pay instead contributing their labor to its construction. Covering roughly 7,500 square metres, the square-planned, two-story stone building was designed to serve caravans travelling the trade routes linking Gaziantep toward Aleppo and beyond, and for decades it functioned as a working inn with rooms for merchants and stabling for their animals. Its scale set it apart from the smaller hans scattered through the old bazaar quarter. Following a detailed restoration, Şire Hanı continues to operate today as a commercial and cultural venue, with shops and hospitality businesses occupying the rooms that once housed travelling traders, keeping the building in active public use.