The concept of the caravanserai

It was in Turkey that I saw my very first caravanserai, probably the best example around, and it left an everlasting impression. It happened in the busy town of Kervansaray, halfway between Aksaray and Konya.

This was many years ago, and at the time, I was told that the Ottomans built hans (storage areas) and caravanserais (inns) to protect and accommodate the merchants moving on the busy caravan routes like, for instance, the Silk Road. Large caravans of camels carrying silk and spices from China would make their way to Bursa, the then capital of the Ottoman Empire. These convenient stopovers were meant to stimulate business, of course. However, they also served as social gathering places and eventually led to further expansion of the Empire.

Later on, I discovered that these caravanserais could be found alongside the entire network of trade routes, mainly throughout southeastern Europe and Asia. Also, the very concept was not an Ottoman invention as I was led to believe initially but existed already in Achaemenid Persia and even in Assyria.

All in all, I always found these caravanserais highly fascinating, but my encounter with the Sultan Han or Sultanhani in Kervansaray always remains my standard reference point. This quite impressive building covers a surface of 4,900 m2 and dates from 1226. It is much larger than a castle and is fortified similarly, with strong defense towers at the corners. It has a rectangular shape, much deeper than wide, with one single entrance gate to ensure security. This gate is decorated with lace brickwork as seen on mosques and gives access to a large open courtyard measuring 44 x 58 meters. At its center stands a square, two-story high kiosk-mosque, which is said to be the oldest example in Turkey.

Along the inner wall on the right runs a shady arcade in front of the merchants’ sleeping quarters. The opposite side is mainly occupied by a hamam where the tired traveler can relax. At the far end of this courtyard, there seems to be another gate, but this is the entrance to the area where the merchants could safely store their goods and shelter their horses, camels, and donkeys. This space with high vaults reminds me of a cathedral, ensuring warmth in winter and coolness in summer. High above the transept, a small octagonal windowed dome acts as a lantern, filtering the light. It strikes me as a comfortable, safe haven where the weary traveler could rest in peace. This important meeting point was also used to sell or swap their merchandise. This is so much more ingenious than one can imagine!

Another, very much commercialized caravanserai is the one of Ilhara in Cappadocia. This one has been heavily restored to be used for the entertainment of tourists.

A few years later, I visited the han of Alara-han on the road from Alanya to Antalya. This building is relatively small and measures only 34.5 x 45m. An inscription above the entrance gate tells us that it was built in 1231 by Alaeddin Keykubad I. It is said that it served the needs of the sultan when he traveled from Konya to his winter quarters in Alanya. Maybe that explains the size. Although this han is hailed for its construction technique, details, and proportions, I am not impressed. It has been converted into a true tourist attraction with the inevitable souvenir shops, restaurants, and gathering places of all kinds.

In Syria, I am confronted with the caravanserai of Qalaat al-Madiq, actually located at the foot of the ancient city of Apamea. This is a sizable building from the 16^th century displaying a fully paved courtyard. In the middle is a stairway that once led to the well, but it has now been sealed off. Overall, the caravanserai has not been tended with care, but interestingly, it houses a few select finds from Apamea. The best and most beautiful artifact is the Roman mosaic of Socrates and the Wise Men from the 3^rd century AD.  Unfortunately, I am not allowed to take pictures inside!

Iran, in turn, came with its own surprises of caravanserais. Here, they often stand in the middle of the desert, battered and withered by the wind and sand. Their lonely location is usually connected to the precious qanats that brought the much-needed water to the site (see: The qanats, one of the greatest inventions of mankind).

Nongobade exhibits an entire series of such vital stopovers. Well-preserved is the caravanserai from the Seljuk era, 13th century, followed by another one from Safavid times, i.e., 17th century. The old city of Na’in at the edge of Iran’s Central Desert seems to have grown around its caravanserai and nearby cistern, whose water supply was guaranteed by qanats. The adjacent wind towers added to the additional comfort of the caravans.

In Isfahan, the capital created and built by Shah Abbas in 1598, the Abbasi Hotel is worth a visit since this was initially another important caravanserai. Unlike the “modernization” of the Alara-han, this conversion into a luxurious hotel is a success story. The large central courtyard has been transformed into a lush garden with fountains and pleasant alleys. Knowing the world-famous Maidan Square, the size of this construction is not surprising. For Shah Abbas, big was better, and that idea has spread all over his city. The story goes that he built 999 of these caravanserais. True or not, in any case, Abbas thought that people would believe that number rather than if he rounded it to one thousand. PR avant la lettre, yes?

Last but not least, I have to mention Uzbekistan in Central Asia. We are well aware that Bukhara and Samarkand stand on the Silk Road, and it is obvious to find caravanserais in those cities. I may not have noticed all of them, but in Bukhara, for instance, I visited the Sayfiddin Caravanserai from the 19^th century, which is now one of the places selling carpets and other handicrafts.

On the road from Bukhara to Samarkand, I passed the Barboti Malik caravanserai from the 11^th century. The place is pretty isolated, more in the middle of nowhere than alongside a major route. This caravanserai is in a pretty poor state; only the façade has been re-erected, while all the other outer and inner walls are only reconstructed to a height of approximately one meter. It is easy to imagine what a safe haven such a place must have been to the traveler, considering the surrounding hostile lands. On the other side of the road is the ever-required water reservoir, a Sardova from the 14^th century. This is an impressive vaulted construction that protects the water from dust and pollution while offering a clean spot to drink and water the animals. To me, it is evident that this entire construction covers an old well that has been used over the centuries by local sheep and cattle herders, as well as by the merchants on this busy east-west road.

The sheer number of these hans and caravanserais is inevitably linked to the Silk Road that crisscrossed Eurasia in general (see: The Silk Road, some historical aspects of this trade route). 

For me, of course, the diversity and presence of these caravanserais give an insight into the welcome stops Alexander may have encountered on his desert crossings. It is impossible that they served the entire Macedonian army, but the proximity of water must have been a precious asset.

After all, Alexander followed the old Persian Roads whenever possible, and these were strung with such relay posts every 30 or 40 kilometers or so. The posts certainly could not provide fresh horses for an army. However, I secretly think that the king himself may have “borrowed” an animal or two during his wild pursuit of Darius in northeast Persia. In any case, he must have welcomed whatever comfort they offered and, in these vast deserts, water was a major commodity.

Selge welcomed Alexander

Selge is one of those hidden treasures just a stone’s throw north of Antalya that only a few people visit.

The road leads through an inhospitable land with barren hills, rough rocks, and recently burnt-down trees and bushes, to the banks of the Eurymedon River, today’s Köprülü River that flows past Aspendos further downstream. This river lightens up the entire landscape, tracing a pale turquoise ribbon through the young green grasses and the dark pine trees. The repeated rapids in this fast-flowing water make it very suitable for rafting, a booming business, it seems. Nature unfolds in all its splendour and once again I wonder if Alexander had an eye for this kind of beauty. The higher the road climbs, the denser the thick pine trees, creating a dramatic setting against the snow-topped Taurus Mountains reaching to 2,000-2,500 meters. The steel blue sky makes every turn of the road a picture-perfect postcard.

Inside the National Park of Köprülü, named after the Roman bridge that still spans both steep canyon walls of the river by the same name, I have to drive my car over this centuries-old bridge – quite an exciting experience! From this point onward the road takes one hairpin after the other, but the view is breathtaking! The Eurymedon River gets ever smaller and the view ever wider. Shapeless grey rocks of conglomerate curiously dot the soft spring grass with its profusion of flowers. The scene has something dramatic, unreal, but at the same time timeless - a primeval force. Then the first terraces appear, neatly trimmed parcels of cultivated land promising a good harvest. Above them the first houses arise, low constructions providing shelter from the cold and wind, built in the same grey rocks I saw earlier and brightened up with red tiles. This is the village of Altinkaya, actually built among the ruins of antique Selge.

Selge itself is spread over three hills, all three being located on top of the same hilltop. Nobody in his right mind would even think about attacking or besieging such a city! An earthen road winds between somber houses, a desolate place softened up by a few scanty blossoming pear trees. In antiquity, grapes were cultivated in these parts and even olive trees managed to survive the harsh conditions of Selge. Old sources also mention the presence of a small tree that produced a resin similar to that of incense; an occasional rare specimen may have survived. The grapes disappeared with the arrival of Islam and today their living conditions look even more precarious than before.

Strabo tells us that Selge was founded in the aftermath of the Trojan War, during the second millennium BC. After that the Spartans moved in, followed later on by emigrants from Rhodes, but that the true history of the city starts with the arrival of Alexander the Great in 333 BC.

Selge was constantly at odds with its neighbors and that included Termessos which Alexander would besiege afterwards. So the people of Selge thought it wise to welcome the Macedonian King from the start. Later on, the city would do the same with the Romans although they remained independent until the fall of the Roman Empire. In the fourth century, the Byzantine Emperor Theodosius decided to settle the Goths in Phrygia (i.e. the northern region) who, warlike as they were, attacked and destroyed many cities in Anatolia. In 339 AD they also stood before Selge but couldn’t take the city.

Nothing has been excavated here and everything is left the way Selge was abandoned eons ago. Most remains are like elsewhere in Turkey from Roman times, roughly the 2nd century AD. As always, the theater is the eye-catcher. Built in three-quarters of a circle, its plan is typically Greek; the 30 tiers below the diazoma out of the total 40 are still preserved because they rest on a rocky bottom while the upper 15 rows were supported by masonry that collapsed over the years. Close to nothing is left of the Roman scene that was added later on. Just before entering the theater, I luckily noticed the blank panel that never received its inscription. The theater seated 9,000 people, meaning that Selge must have counted 20 to 25,000 inhabitants. It is a mighty sight, to say the least, and the view from the top towards the snow-capped Taurus Mountains is absolutely breathtaking. I could spend all day just sitting here on the top row…

Through a gate holding the chickens, I enter the Stadium. The owner of this parcel, an elderly man, kindly opens and closes his rudimentary gate in the fence made of all sorts of planks and branches wired together. I glance at his house if I may call this a house, four grey stone walls recuperated from antiquity no doubt but properly covered by a modern tile roof. Three months of the year Selge is covered under the snow, so this roof is definitely no luxury. The inside is a black hole with barren stone walls and an earthen floor, one room for everyone and everything. How can they possibly heat such a place? It takes some effort to discern the outlines of the Stadium, half broken down, half overgrown, or disappearing inside some shack. According to George Bean (Turkeys’ Southern Shore) it never reached the full length of 185 meters, which was also the case with the Stadium of Arykanda and several others but I never seem to have paid much attention to the measurements.

The place is totally littered with loose stones, broken columns and pottery, and plenty of antique rubble through and over which one has to find a way to other paths, passing through more wooden gates and climbing over low walls. Yet I reach the Basilica on the second hill and suddenly I'm standing in the middle of the fully paved Agora, measuring approximately 50 x 50 meters. Remains of the Stoa that framed the Agora on three sides await craftsmen to put the columns back in place. I find a stone with a Greek inscription between Corinthian capitals and column drums, and behind that, a row of loose square pillars line up along what might have been a street. Gee, if only archaeologists would come down here and excavate Selge like they did in Arykanda, it looks so promising!

I scramble around for about three hours, visiting only two of the three hills. I take a good look at the third hill from the top of the second one to define the impressive city wall, once three kilometers long. I’m truly baffled for I had no idea that Selge was so large and so imposing. No wonder Alexander left Selge for what it was! In the middle of no man's land, at a height of 2,000 meters, what was the point? Yet this is a majestic landscape.

Returning along other tracks, I pass a spring of clear water in the shelter of a rock wall, in fact, this is the antique spring that is still being used by the villagers who fill their plastic jerrycans here every day as there is no running tap water.  

I leave Selge which looks still as poor as it was in the second half of last century when George Bean visited it, and I cross the same Roman bridge again. This time, I take the time to stop for a closer look into the deep canyon. You have to admire the engineers from antiquity to dare “hang” this bridge so high above the water and in such a way that it still is being used today. The wild waters of the Köprü River are squeezed through the narrows from which two waterfalls add to the spectacle. In fact, these waterfalls are fed by underground springs whose water is pressed through the cracks in the rock formation. I don’t think the rafting companies I passed earlier today will dare venture into this part of the river! A little further down there is a second bridge, the Bügrüm Bridge from Ottoman times that spans the Kocadere River, a tributary to the Köprü (old Eurymedon) River. There is a path leading over that thin arch but that is too daring for me. I also come across the typical red and white marks of the Lycian Way that follows an ancient road that once connected Side to Konya.

Yes, there is enough left for a second visit to Selge, someday soon I hope.

Derebucak, a new discovery in Turkey

One of my favorite TV programs is still Zor Yollar that airs every week on TRT Tϋrk and there are times the landscape and sites cannot entice me, but this week was different. The group of adventurous guides and archaeologists went to Urϋnlϋ, a place above Antalya I didn’t know and where they showed a house with intriguing walls made of stone alternated with wooden pegs.

From there they drove into a National Forest whose treasure was a turquoise blue pool that tunneled in and out of a greater lake. I was lucky enough to find some pictures to illustrate what I saw here.

[picture from http://www.panoramio.com/photo/40403431]

After that the 4x4 cars drove on to Derebucak that I also had to look up on a map and that is located further north just inside the borders of the province of Konya.

        

Here I really got excited for they took me to a Roman road. It is always an amazing and exciting event to discover a stretch of antique road running in the middle of nowhere and it definitely was not easy to see (click here for location on the map) it in the landscape even. Eye catcher were the stairs! My goodness, what a road that must have been! My knowledge of the language still falls short in those precious moments but I understood that even Apostle Paul had walked here on his way to or from Perge.

Well, I have a couple of new places to add to my sightseeing list next time I’ll visit the area.