The caravanserai in the centre of Edirne has been a hotel since 1972, when it was restored - work thought successful enough to win the Ağa Khan Award for Architecture in 1980.
It was built for Rüstem Paşa, grand vizier to Süleyman the Magnificent, by Mimar Sinan, and it follows the courtyard-han plan: two storeys of rooms set around a rectangular court, their courtyard faces arcaded, with hearths and niches in the rooms behind the arcades. Stairs face one another on the long sides. The brick ornament in the arches of the upper-floor windows and doors is worth looking at, and walls of cut stone and brick give the building its monumental look. It is within walking distance in the city centre.
The walls are of cut stone and brick together, and that is what gives the building its weight.
Getting there
- Access
- In the city centre, within walking distance.
When to go
- Climate
- Across Edirne as a whole, monthly mean temperatures run from 2.8 °C in January to 24.8 °C in July; the mean stays between 15 and 25 °C in May, June, July, August and September; rainfall is heaviest in December (71 mm) and lightest in August (23 mm). Long-term means for 1930-2025 from the Turkish State Meteorological Service (MGM).
