The Great Inn

From a historical and architectural perspective, Buyuk Han (The Great Inn) is the most noteworthy of the Turkish monuments in Nicosia.

It is acknowledged to have been constructed by the first Ottoman governor of Cyprus, governor-general Muzaffer Pasha in 1572. The building is rectangular and has two storeys; the rooms ringing a large courtyard open to an arched and domed pavilion. The inn has been constructed with stones transported from different buildings and places.

Likewise, it is possible that the marble columns supporting the small mosque in the middle of the courtyard have been taken from another building. This small, domed mosque with its conic, hexagonal stone chimneys complements the inn’s Turkish style of architecture. The rooms on the ground floor were used as shops, store-rooms and offices.

The rooms on the upper floor with fireplaces with octagonal chimneys were the bedrooms. Although the inn is very similar to the ones in Anatolia one difference can be noticed: whereas this type of inns and caravanserais in Anatolia usually have only one main entrance, the Great Inn has another.