Stone Inn (Menemen)

Stone Inn (Menemen)

Since the inscription of stone inn , which is located opposite the bedesten, court mosque and bath in Menemen district of İzmir province, on Şehit Kemal Street, has not survived, the date of its construction has not been finalized. However, there is the mausoleum of Sheikh Kamil, who is said to have been assigned to the construction of stone inn, next to the inn. The period in which Sheikh Kamil lived coincides with the end of the 16th century and the beginning of the 17th century. In this respect, it is thought that stone inn was built in this period. Although it is stated in some sources that the inn was built during the Saruhanid period, there is not enough information to prove this. Stone inn is made of cut stone, rubble stone and brick in a square plan and two floors. One of the first examples of inns built in Menemen, there are brick arched porticoes around the four sides of the square-shaped courtyard and cells covered with vaults in front of it. From the right of the entrance, a 13-step staircase leads to the second floor. There are 24 rooms on the upper floor, and these rooms have 2-3 niches, a hearth, a round-arched window and a door opening to the outside. The exterior of the inn is surrounded by two rows of hedgehog eaves. Stone inn started to be restored in 1997.