The inn features commercial units on its lower floor and rooms used for accommodation on the upper floor. (AA photo)
A 507-year-old historic inn that remained largely buried and closed for around five decades is being restored in Kayseri’s historic Grand Bazaar, while the site is set to welcome visitors again after restoration.
Known as Gön Inn, the building was commissioned in 1519 by Piri Mehmet Pasha, grand vizier under Ottoman Sultan Selim I, to provide accommodation for caravans traveling along the Silk Road.
Hidden behind a door next to a shoe shop in the Grand Bazaar, the inn features commercial units on its lower floor and rooms used for accommodation on the upper floor.
The inn remained derelict for years before the Melikgazi Municipality launched restoration work in 2021.
Much of the structure was gradually buried following an earthquake that struck the city in 1940. Restoration efforts have since revealed large sections of the historic inn.
Melikgazi Mayor Mustafa Palancıoğlu told state-run Anadolu Agency that the inn had been left neglected inside the historic Grand Bazaar.
Palancıoğlu said he first noticed the historic site in 2019 through a window of the Güngörmez Mosque in the bazaar and discovered that its entrance had been closed for years.
The inn covers an area of around 1,400 square meters. Part of the structure collapsed in the 1940 earthquake and shopkeepers later built unauthorized storage areas over the ruins, he said.
After becoming mayor, Palancıoğlu said the municipality leased the inn from the Piri Mehmet Pasha Foundation and launched an extensive restoration project.
“Everything we see now was actually buried underground,” Palancıoğlu said. “We excavated 5, 6 and in some places 7 meters deep. To avoid disturbing the shopkeepers, we carried out the excavation in the early morning before they started work.”
He said no trucks or excavators could enter the site, meaning the soil had to be removed manually.
“We removed excavation equivalent to around 7,000 truckloads and uncovered the traces of the structure. With every trace we found, another part of the building emerged,” he said.
Palancıoğlu said restoration work has reached its final stage and furnishing will begin soon.
Built more than 500 years ago to support trade along the Silk Road, the inn includes commercial units on the ground floor, small rooms of around 8 square meters on the upper floor and two large vaulted structures.
“It will give the Grand Bazaar room to breathe,” Palancıoğlu said.
The mayor said domestic and international visitors exploring the Grand Bazaar will be able to take a break at the open-air historic inn.
“We want to use this place as a center for social and cultural activities,” he said, adding that the venue will host poetry readings, musical performances, talks, exhibitions and carpet auctions.
The restored inn is expected to become a new social and cultural hub in Kayseri’s historic city center.
