On the way to Konya, we stopped at the caravanserai Agzikarahan. It loomed like a fort just off the highway, and indeed in the middle ages it was both fort and inn. The walls were thick, the rooms with high arched ceilings, smelling of musk and decay. But I can imagine how welcoming it was to the weary traveller, offering shelter and protection from bandits, a place to rest, refresh, have animals attended to.

The typical caravanserai had walls 2 rooms thick and 3 stories high, surrounding a central courtyard for the animals. Besides rooms for the people of the caravan (the inn) there would be storerooms for the goods and supplies, a bathhouse, an infirmery, A mosque in the center of the courtyard, (raised up one story above the animals) took care of the visitor's spiritual needs. A veterinary was on call to care for the animals. The caravanserais were built by the Sultans in the 13th & 14th century, each a days travel from the previous one. The costs of running and staffing the caravanserais were came from the taxes collected on the goods passing through them. A caravan could stay up to 3 days free of charge.