Persian Caravanserai

My initial reaction when I finally saw the inscribed properties under Persian Caravanserai was of wonder as to why the beautiful Aminoddoleh Timche in the grand bazaar of Kashan was not included. Its divine blue dome, an architectural marvel in its own right, could have easily been the poster photo of this batch. I managed to see three from this serial property: Bisotun, Kharanaq, and Meybod.  

The inscribed area of Bisotun has two caravanserais, one is older than the other. The Mongol-period one in ruins (basically just the foundations) is attached to the remains of the unfinished Sassanid palace, directly beside a lovely traditional cafe housed in the old hospital building. The Sheik Ali Khan caravanserai much farther away is the one that got inscribed and it now houses the Laleh International Hotel. I went inside to check how it was retrofitted for present-day use and I even had my second serving of tea there (after having an earlier one at the cafe). The courtyard opens to the view of the Farhad Tarash.  

Kharanaq is an old village along the Silk Roads that has a history of over 4,500 years. While the main attraction would be the crumbling mud citadel with an impressive mosque and shaking minaret, the caravanserai cannot be missed as it is the first monument to be seen upon entering the village. Travellers can arrange to stay overnight, which would be cheaper than staying at the one in Bisotun. It seems to appeal to backpackers …

I visited many caravanserai in Iran. Some of them are new, basically pit stops for gas, food and repair your car, they often call them service station now though as you may expect. Some of the classic caravanserai are now guest houses or coffee shops. The classic ones are supposed to be for when the silk road camel “caravans” were passing through Persia and needed a place to rest and refresh. If you look on the map you can make out a line going west <> east. There are some caravanserai not included in this inscription request, most notably the one next to Cyrus' tomb, but an easy “tick” would be to see the one in Bisotun which is a one of those coffee houses now. I spent some time finding the ruined ones along the road but sometimes they are not easy to find, perhaps the road doesn't allow you to venture into the area next to the highway, it would be silly to go off-road with a sedan, but sometimes the ruins are just there in plain sight, unprotected unfortunately.

Taking Khaneh Khowrdeh as an example (romanization may vary) one can just take a road off the highway and you park right in front of it. There is no tourist sign, only a sign for what I believe is deterring vandalism. Graffiti is rife in and outside the walls. Gone are the camels and the new visitors, baaaaaaaaa, leave so much poo that it's not easy to …

The Persian Caravanserai were only placed on the T List in Feb 2017 as part of a "mini update" which added a further 10 sites to Iran’s already enormous T List (currently 55)! Whether this implies imminent action to try for Nomination isn’t clear, but some of the locations are pretty easy to pick up whilst seeing existing Iranian WHS if travellers want to avoid missing out on a "future inscription"!

Assuming that is, that they survive any future "cut", since a slight problem is that the UNESCO site states that “in this file, there are 25 Caravanserais, from all over Iran under the name of Persian Caravanserais which are selected from hundreds of Caravanserais.” - and then lists what appears to be 32 locations!! I have just discovered and added coordinates to our T List map for 24 of them, augmenting the 3 identified when the site was placed on the T List – so 5 remain to be identified – “possibly”!!

Iran’s main highways are really very good – enormous “Dual carriageways” (UK English) or “Divided Highways” (US!). As you zip along, you will pass many, many Caravanserai. A fair number will be in ruins but others are operating as Hotels/Restaurants. I would recommend stopping to explore at least 1 ruined one – even if it isn’t among those on the T List.

It is interesting to note just how many along the highway have a modern Gas station /Restaurant located very close …