Description
The two buildings in Nicosia dating from the 16th century and known as Büyük Han (The Great Inn) and Kumarcilar Hani (The Gambler’s Inn) are both typical examples of Anatolian Ottoman caravansarais between the 14th and 18th century. These inns, like a number of Ottoman caravansarais, were built in order to serve the purposes of trade within the city and at the same time to meet the need for hotels in Nicosia. This type of inn still serves in Anatolia as business office and market place. Frequently several inns were situated in one place. Thus merchants coming from Turkey, and especially from Alanya, stayed at these inns, which were built in the form of bazaars.
