Caravansary

caravansary

 or caravanserai

Public building used for sheltering caravans and other travelers in the Middle East. The structure is quadrangular in form and enclosed by a massive wall that has small windows near the top and a few narrow air holes near the bottom. The central court, surrounded by an arcade and storerooms, is usually large enough to contain 300–400 camels. It is open to the sky and has a well with a fountain basin in its center. There are rooms upstairs for lodging.

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caravansary, caravanserai

interior of a caravansary

1.In the middle east, a building or inn for the overnight lodging of travelers by caravan; usually enclosed by a solid wall and entered through a large gate.

2. By extension, any large inn or hotel.

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Caravansary 

an inn and trading post for caravans along the roads in the cities of Southwest Asia, Middle Asia, and Transcaucasia. Caravansaries, which have been known since antiquity, were widespread during the ninth through 18th centuries as cities grew and the caravan trade intensified.

Two types are most common: the hall caravansary and thecaravansary with an inner court. The hall caravansaries, seen inArmenia, are retangular buildings divided into naves. The mid-dle nave is designed for men and goods; the animals are kept inthe side naves. The other type has small buildings of one or a fewstories, where travelers stay with their merchandise; the build-ings open on an enclosed court, where the animals are kept.Roadside caravansaries were fortified with protective walls orelse were attached to inns or fortresses (rabats and khans). Thedevelopment of railroads and other modern type of transporthave brought about a decline in the importance of caravansarieson transit roads.