A town named “Market” Population: 4,600
Market day: Friday
West of Tokat via an attractive road, the small town of Pazar serves as a base for visiting the Ballıca Mağarası, one of Turkey’s finest show caves. However, you could also pause here to inspect the restored Selçuk Mahperi Hatun Kervansarayı, a Silk Road caravanserai dating back to 1239 and named after Lady Mahperi, the wife of Sultan Alaeddin Keykubad I.
Unlike most caravanserais, this one is long and narrow, rather like a medrese, but with a large room at the back where there would usually be an iwan in a medrese. This served as the winter quarters for passing traders and their animals who, in summer, slept on platforms above their animals in the double-depth recesses on either side of the courtyard. Today there’s a fountain in the middle of the courtyard where once there would have been a raised mescid.
As is typical of Selçuk structures, the portal to the caravanserai is elaborately carved with a dedication kitabe (inscription plate) over the door. Another inscription survives above the entrance to the winter quarters.
The caravanserai now serves as a cafe and restaurant.
Sleeping
Pazar has only a basic hotel. Stay the night in Tokat.
Transport info
There are half-hourly minibuses from Tokat‘s town-centre underground minibus terminal. The journey takes 30 minutes.
Day trip destinations
