“The Vizier’s Han” Population: 3,000
Market day: Saturday
No more than a 20-minute drive north of Bilecik is the small settlement of Vezirhan, named after the large caravanserai built here in 1665 for the grand vizier, Köprülü Mehmet Paşa (1578-1661), who is buried in the mosque complex he commissioned on İstanbul’s Ordu Caddesi not far from the library he had built on Divan Yolu.
Long and low-slung, the caravanserai was built centuries after the Selçuk years when grand portals were the rage. Instead it was accessed via three slightly ogival arches.
Unfortunately, by the early 20th-century the caravanserai had fallen into complete ruin; photographs in Bilecik Museum show it as a roofless shell. Now restored, it now looks brand new although there’s a certain picturesque quality to its many chimneys and slit windows. Right next to the caravanserai is the austere mosque with a central dome and single minaret that was built as part of the same complex.
Transport info
Minibuses from Bilecik make the 16km journey west to Vezirhan every half-hour. There are also minibuses from Vezirhan to Osmaneli so that you can visit both places in the same trip.
