The caravanserai covers an area of 3,900 square meters, making it the second-largest medieval caravanserai in Turkey after the other Sultan Han near Aksaray.[4][2] Like other Seljuk caravanserais, it served as a stop for travelers and merchants along the major trade routes of the region, providing lodging and other basic services.[4]
Entrance portal of the winter hall
Interior of the winter hall
It shares a similar layout to the other Sultan Han. Its exterior has a fortified appearance and the entrance is marked by a monumental portal with rich stone-carved decoration including a vaulted canopy of muqarnas. This entrance leads to a large interior courtyard surrounded by arcades, at the middle of which is a small square stone chamber elevated on four pillars, which served as a small mosque. Opposite the entrance, at the other end of the courtyard, is another portal which leads to the "winter hall": a main vaulted nave with a central dome (marked by a conical roof on the outside), from which other vaulted chambers open on either side.[2][4][1]
The building also contains notable examples of Seljuk stone-carved animal motifs, including drain spouts resembling lion heads and serpentine dragon motifs along the lower arches of the elevated mosque in the courtyard.[2][4]
Ayşe, Denknalbant (2009). "SULTAN HANI". İslâm Ansiklopedisi (in Turkish). Türkiye Diyanet Vakfı. Retrieved 2024-04-28.
Gierlichs, Joachim (2011). "Anatolian Seljuks; Architecture". In Hattstein, Markus; Delius, Peter (eds.). Islam: Art and Architecture. h.f.ullmann. pp. 375–376. ISBN9783848003808.
Hillenbrand, Robert (1994). Islamic Architecture: Form, function, and meaning. New York: Columbia University Press. pp. 347–350. ISBN9780231101332.
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