Çakaloğlu Inn

Çakaloğlu Inn

You are in Çakaloğlu Inn, which still carries the traces of the 1922 Izmir Fire.

The building inscription has not survived. However, the date of 1805-1806 on the fountain and public fountain at the entrance to the north gives us an idea about the construction date of the inn.

In the middle of the inn, there were 18 rooms lined on either side of the high ceiling and arched corridor. In this state, it resembles a small model of the Spice Bazaar in Istanbul. Although the spaces of equal size are built as single-storey, these parts have been made two-storey with a wooden ceiling partition added later.

The Çakaloğlu Inn is illuminated by the light shining through its high windows. The decorations inside one of the spaces located next to the corridor in the middle of the inn are one of the details worth seeing. In addition to the plaster ornaments, all of the surfaces between the wheel of fortune motif seen on the suspended wooden ceiling surfaces decorated with pencil work and the lozenge slices formed by curved slats are filled with floral motifs.

Çakaloğlu Han is one of the two-door inns with opposite doors to the south and north. A sun motif made of bricks on the south façade of the inn and the fountain and ornaments of the sebil on the north façade opening to the sea reflect the important stone decoration style of the westernization period. You can also see the birdhouse on the north facade, with round arches, two eyes, in the form of a small niche, by raising your head.

To the right of the door on the north facade, there is a separate section that belongs to the inn but does not have an entrance from the courtyard. This place has been used as a mosque for a while, then as a coffee house and warehouse since the date it was built.

Since the rooms inside the inn are small, they were mostly used as offices by brokers and brokers. According to the records of 1905, D. Georgiadis, E. T. Vasilacakis, C. Papaghiorghopulos, Pavlo Pavlidi, Çulluzade Mehmet Arif Efendi, Kapanizade Tahir Bey were working in this inn.

The fact that Çakaloğlu Inn has more than 100 heirs today is one of the most important reasons why restoration cannot be done. We hope that this beautiful historical building, which is in ruins, will be restored to the city.