Kızlarağası Hanı

The Kızlarağası Hanı is a historical inn located in Konak district of Izmir. III. It was built in 1744 by Hacı Beşir Ağa, who served as the aghas of girls during the reigns of Ahmed and Mahmud I. Today, it is one of the touristic and historical shopping places of Kemeraltı. According to the date in the inscription of the inn, it was built in 1744 by Hacı Beşir Ağa. It is one of the oldest structures in Kemeraltı. The lower floor is used for shopping and the upper floor is used for accommodation. It is believed that the building was completed in 1745. Although there is no definite information about its construction, it is known that the person who built it was Kızlarağası Hacı Beşir Ağa. The construction of the inn was started in 1744, just behind the Izmir Port Castle, and was completed in 1745. Han filled an important gap in his period. It was in the place known with today's Yemişçiler and Halim Ağa Bazaar, and its main façade was opening to Keresteciler Street. Today this is 871 street. The inn, which is one of the rare works of Ottoman architecture in Izmir, has a square form like other inns. Traditionally, there should be a fountain and a pool in the middle of a rectangular and wide courtyard inside the building. Such a field does not exist today. The inn, like almost every long distance inn, had two floors. On the upper floor, those who wanted to sleep in the rooms opening to the gallery were the mansions, and on the ground floor, the opposite of the simple life of the upper part. There were camels with their loads, rooms where merchants and servants could stay, shops where goods were unloaded and marketed, and people bargaining. Due to its proximity to the port, the inn has always remained lively. In a certain period, the inn also worked as a kind of stock market, especially in the shops facing the inner courtyard, these works were done intensively. In the 18th and 19th centuries, with the technology causing various changes in the field of transportation and the economic life changing from time to time, the Kızlarağası Hanı gradually lost its importance. After the end of the overnight stays, the inn became only a place where goods were unloaded and stored. You can find a wide variety of handicraft products, carpets, leather clothes and striking souvenirs in the Kizlaragasi Inn, which was restored in 1993 and now serves as a touristic bazaar, and you can relax by inhaling the mystical atmosphere in the open tea garden in the middle of the inn. Another of the old monumental structures of Izmir is Hisar Mosque. It was built by Aydınoğlu (Molla) Yakup Bey at the end of the 16th century. The mosque, which is mentioned as 1592 and 1598 in documents, has a large central dome and two longitudinal domes on each side. The narthex consists of a 7-domed portico. The narrow long harimi, separated from the square with two fountains in front by the garden wall, extends to the south by a passage. The mosque, which was repaired in 1813, 1881, 1927 and 1980, was supported by buttress arches and walls from the south and west. The decoration is enriched with the influence of the 18th and 19th centuries. It is possible to see the European artistic influences on the column capitals, window and façade decorations, on the altar, pulpit and preacher's pulpit.