Kumarcılar Hanı
(Gamblers' Inn)
A few hundred metres north of the
Büyük Khan and in the same street is the Kumarcılar Khan and dates from about
1570 A.D. There are numerous shops and coffee bars which give a fine convivial
atmosphere to the place; an ideal place for tourists to saunte r and imbibe an
old time memory.
The entrance to
the Khan used to have the well known Asmalti kahvehanesi and
this view seems to be the most popular subject for visiting
artists.
It was the custom
in the Middle Ages for merchants to group themselves together in
their respective trades, e.g. leather, cloth, jewellery, spices
and household utensils. Also, merchants from some distant town
would always favour a certain khan which eventually assumed the
name of that town.
The Kumarcılar
Khan, however, means the inn of gamblers. The inn is is
currently under restoration, and what better place could there
be to house the Department of Antiquities for the Northern State
of Cyprus. Photo above shows the interior courtyard and it
demonstrates how beautiful a building can be, without the
elaborate carving in mediaeval Gothic buildings of western
Europe. This forecourt is the Muslim equivalent of the cloisters
of Bellapais abbey.
The visitor will
notice, as is usual in these old buildings, fragments of Roman
objects and carvings around the old stables. An old Roman hand
flour mill can be seen in the forecourt, of which there are
quite a number in Kyrenia. The Department of Antiquities has
been rejuvenated, and is now very busy restoring those places
that will attract tourists, especially that fine old entrance of
the inn, now camouflaged by a clutter of small shops.
References
-
Dreghorn, W.,
The
Antiquities of Turkish Nicosia, Rustem Publishers, Nicosia.
Nicosia 
