CARAVANSERAI CARAVANSARY SILK ROAD TURKEY IRAN

1975
A caravanserai (also spelt caravansarai, caravansary Persian كاروانسرا, Turkish: kervansaray), means home or shelter for caravans ("caravan" meaning a group or convoy of soldiers, traders or pilgrims engaged in long distance travel).
The word "caravansarei" derived from "caravan" (travellers) and "sarai" (or sera) meaning home or inn. A caravanserai was a roadside inn where travellers could rest and recover from the day's journey. Caravanserais supported the flow of commerce, information and people across a network of trade routes of Asia, North Africa and South-Eastern Europe. Most typically it was a "building with a square or rectangular walled exterior, with a single portal wide enough to permit large or heavily laden beasts such as camels to enter. The courtyard is almost always open to the sky, and along the inside walls of the enclosure are ranged a number of identical stalls, bays, niches or chambers to accommodate merchants and their servants, their animals and merchandise. Caravanserais provided water for drinking (for animals and people), and for washing and ritual ablutions. Sometimes they even had elaborate baths. They also kept fodder for animals and had shops for travellers where they could acquire new supplies. In addition, there could be shops where merchants could dispose some of their goods." (Ciolek 2004) Westernization of the Persian word sarayı سرا with the meaning dwelling, palace or enclosed courts. The word caravan (كاروان) itself also has a Persian origin.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caravansary

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