İshaklı Caravanserai

İshaklı Caravanserai is a stone structure featuring a grand entrance portal decorated with muqarnas, opening into a spacious courtyard with a central prayer hall at its heart. The building shows thick walls and a clear interior layout designed to accommodate both travelers and their pack animals during their journeys.

This structure was built around 1250 under Sultan Izzedin Keykavus II and formed part of a network of stopping points for travelers journeying between Afyonkarahisar and Konya. It reflects the period when such facilities were essential to long-distance trade routes.

This facility served as a meeting point where merchants and travelers from distant places gathered to rest and share news during their journeys. The building embodied the role of such structures in connecting distant communities through commerce and exchange.

The site has been made accessible to visitors through conservation work begun in 2009, preserving the original construction methods and materials. Those interested in studying Seljuk-era architecture can examine the typical layout and building techniques used for these travel facilities.

The prayer hall sits in an unusual location within the courtyard and does not follow the standard Mecca-facing orientation found in most other caravanserais. This deviation suggests that builders adapted the design to suit specific local or structural conditions at this particular site.

Location: Sultandağı

GPS coordinates: 38.53269,31.22877

Latest update: December 9, 2025 12:26