Hans, caravansaries (Lodgings)

The hans are buildings of great significance to the profane oriental architecture, used mainly by merchants and tenants along with their caravans for overnight accommodation, and then by all other passengers. These lodgings were built on roads where trade caravans passed as well as in settlements. In addition to serving as accommodation, and storage, at one point in time they were used as a place to trade goods. In urban areas, the lodging was often located in the bazaar, surrounded by shops, near a mosque and a hammam. Not one bazaar could be imagined without an lodging. The lodgings were built by rich people and high-ranking civil servants, offering cheap or free overnight stays. In large shopping areas, these caravanserais were built on floor, forming an almost square yard inside. Usually, on the sides of the gate or on the inside, workshops for undermining, for repairing cars, etc. were located. The barn, as a state element of the lodging, was located on one side of the building or in a separate yard. A wide porch was surrounding all four sides of the yard where all the goods were unloaded and loaded. Traders left their goods on the ground floor. The rooms for the merchants were on the first floor and each had a chimney for heating. A well or a fountain, as well as a trough for the cattle were positioned in the yard. In the middle of the yard, in some lodgings, there was a masjid (a small mosque without a minaret). There was almost no inventory in the lodgings, the passengers carried bedding and other necessities. They ate in inns (taverns) outside the lodging.
It is a well-known fact that Skopje was a developed trade and craft center in the past, welcoming caravans of cattle for merchandise and passengers. As a result, in the first decades of the Ottoman rule, the need to build passenger stables - lodgings, or caravanserais became apparent. They were quite numerous, as concluded from the data obtained mainly from the waqfs, as well as data found in the documents of the travel writers. Thus, by the middle of the XVI century, thirteen lodgings and caravanserais were registered in Skopje.