Hafsa Sultan Caravanserai: An Ottoman Caravanserai in Marmaris
Site at a Glance
- Rating
- 3.2
- Popularity
- Very Low
- Country
- Turkey
- Primary era
- Early Modern
- Eras represented
- Early Modern
- Civilizations
- Ottoman
- Site type
- Economic
- Remains
- Caravanserai
History
Hafsa Sultan Caravanserai is a sixteenth-century Ottoman caravanserai in Marmaris, Türkiye, commissioned by Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent during the Ottoman campaign to Rhodes in 1522–1523. Suleiman, who reigned from 1520 to 1566, ordered the Ottoman-style building when Marmaris served as the army’s main base in Anatolia. It was initially constructed as military headquarters.
Following the Ottoman conquest of Rhodes, the building was converted into a caravanserai, an inn that provided lodging and related services for travelers and merchants. An inscription records its opening in 1545. The building became known as Hafsa Sultan Caravanserai after Hafsa Sultan, Suleiman’s mother, who lived from 1479 to 1534. It is also called Marmaris Caravanserai.
The caravanserai stands north of Marmaris Castle and the harbor. Its layout contains one large room and seven smaller rooms, making eight rooms in total. The building is privately owned, and its rooms have been rented as tourist shops and taverns. Plans call for its restoration and conversion into a museum.
