Balibey Han - The first three-storey hotel of the Turks

A han was an Ottoman or Seljuk inn. In Bursa there are many historic hans. None of them, of course, is used as a hotel anymore. Most of them have been lovingly restored and are used as shops, cafés and restuarants with gardens. They are mostly built around a court where in the past travellers and trades people would ride in with their horses or donkeys packed with the goods they wanted to sell in the city. 
Balibey Han was the first three-storey han and it seems to have had a different layout. It was built right across the covered bazar in the city centre. At that time, in the 15th century, Bursa was an important trade centre. The Silk Road and the Spice Road were leading through it. Bali Bey, the builder of the Han, used the income from the inn to build a mosque and a medrese in Yenişehir, a small town near Bursa.

Balibey Han was in a very bad shape for a long time. But the present city government has started taking care of the city's history and historic buildings and the Balibey Han reconstruction is among many other projects that have been successfully carried out.

Balibey Han now houses two cafés and many smalls shops and small galleries. At the moment, there is an exhibition of traditional handicraft and paintings made by women who completed free courses at BUSMEK, a kind of trade school which the city has founded to help women learn a trade and earn an income. Here are some examples of the beautiful work they have accomplished.

Some critical voices say the original Han has been hidden now under the new reconstruction so it cannot be really called Bali Bey Han anymore. Personally, I can only say that the new structure is a combination of old and new and it looks good in my opinion. And I can just imagine myself sitting in its café with wifi Internet connection and writing blog posts while observing the people on the street. I do agree that it does not look very historic anymore, like the old city wall that is being rebuild at the moment. But I'm not sure I would have liked the old structure to stay as it was either. Should ruins be left as they are or should they be rebuild?

Picture sources: old and being renovated