Sokollu Mehmet Pasha Caravanserai
caravanserai in Hatay Province, Turkey
Sokollu Mehmet Pasha caravanserai is a 16th-century caravanserai in Payas, Turkey.
Location
The caravanserai is in Payas town, İskenderun ilçe (district) of Hatay Province. It is easily accessible from Turkish state highway D.817 which connects İskenderun to North. There is also a castle to the west of the caravanserai.
History
Payas is a seaside town on the Mediterranean Sea. In the 1567–68 term, Ottoman government Sublime Porte built a shipyard in Payas in preparation for the Cyprus campaign. After the conquest of Cyprus in 1571, the Grand vizier Sokollu Mehmet Pasha built the caravansarai financing it privately. The architect of the caravanserai was Mimar Sinan. It is not known if Sinan actually supervised the construction. According to the inscription of the caravanserai, it was completed in 1574.
“Sokollu Mehmet Pasha Caravanserai” enters the record as caravanserai in Hatay Province, Turkey. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Sokollu, Mehmet and Pasha can confirm, complicate or overturn.
Why this record matters
“Sokollu Mehmet Pasha Caravanserai” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Sokollu, Mehmet and Pasha provides the most credible route into that argument.
The strongest evidence will usually combine a dated visual record with documents produced by the authority responsible for the place. The source revision retrieved here is dated Mar 17, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q54922796. Authority coordinates are 36.754, 36.204. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1567, 1571 and 1574.
A single description cannot reconcile every naming convention, rebuilding phase or administrative transfer associated with a place. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Sokollu Mehmet Pasha Caravanserai”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Sokollu Mehmet Pasha Caravanserai primary sources, Sokollu Mehmet Pasha Caravanserai archive and Sokollu research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Sokollu Mehmet Pasha Caravanserai”?
- Which authority defined the place, boundary or structure at the relevant date?
- Which earlier names or jurisdictions may reveal additional records?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Sokollu Mehmet Pasha Caravanserai” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.