“Sultan’s Han” Population: 11,250
Market day: Friday
In the middle of the Anatolian plain, midway between Konya and Aksaray, stands the small town of Sultanhanı, famous for two things: its vast caravanserai and its carpet repairmen.
The caravanserai, with its typically splendid portal adorned with stalactite decoration, was built in 1229 for the Selçuk Sultan Alaeddin Keykubad I. Restored after a fire in 1278, it was at that time the largest caravanserai in the country.
Its layout is absolutely typical: the portal leads into a courtyard with a raised mescid in the centre and rooms opening off all the way around – those on the righthand side of the courtyard have a portico in front to serve as protection in bad weather.
Apparently the han is now being used for a market and to host the occasional art exhibition (2023).
Sultanhanı itself has a rather forlorn air brought on by the fact that it’s almost too easy a stop-off point for coach tours for whom there are plentiful facilities in the restaurant facing the caravanserai.
In the back streets a few simple mud-plastered houses with thatched roofs survive but most are either abandoned or used for storage.
Should you take a turn around town you might come across some of the shops where old carpets are repaired and given new life ready to be forwarded to places such as Göreme and Avanos where they’re more likely to find customers.
Sleeping
There are a couple of simple pensions-cum-campsites and a hotel here although people usually prefer to press on east to the heart of Cappadocia.
Hotel Sultansaray. Tel: 0382-242 2323
Kervan Pansiyon and Camping. Tel; 0531-591 2476
Sultanhanı Kervan Hotel. Tel: 0537-429 4500
Transport info
A reasonable number of buses ply the route from Konya to Aksaray and vice versa, but if you want to break the journey en route to see the caravanserai you should either start out early in the day or buy the onward ticket before setting off rather than risk being stranded by the roadside – a shadeless and hot prospect in summer.
Local minibuses also connect Sultanhanı with Aksaray every half-hour on weekdays and every hour at weekends. The last bus back to Aksaray leaves around 4.30pm. In Aksaray they leave from the street in front of the old bus station across the road from Migros.
Day trip destinations
Sultanhanı architecture old and new
