Idea #492 – Visiting the Caravanserai of Selim in Armenia
The caravanserai of Solim, or Soulèma, is a caravanserai dating from 1332, and situated in the marz of Vayots Dzor in Armenia. It is situated in the pass of Sélim, at 2410 meters in height. It isolated position was maybe at the origin of its exceptionnal state of conservation : the caravanserai is the best protected from Armenia, after two restorations in 1956-1958 and in 1961.
According to inscriptions in Armenian and in Persia on its walls, the caravanserai would have been built in 1332 by prince Chesar Orbélian, under the reign of the khan Abou Said. It consists of a building in basalt, allying Armenian architecture and Islamic architecture. It possesses only an entrance, of Muslim inspiration, which facilitated the defense. It is surmounted by a niche and decorated with stalactites, to the left of a fancy and to the right of an ox.
The main room is a trinef of orientation western is divided by eight pairs of square pillars connected, by archs. The smaller side naves were reserved for the travelers and the central nave in their animals. They are all three endowed of barrel vaults on cross-springers, the lightof which is drilled by three small windows decorated with stalactites, throwing light and aeration; the whole is covered with a roof in low slope.
Some Pictures
Where is it ?
Sélim, Armenia
