Thirty-five kilometres from Alanya, not far from the Alara River (on the first eastern plain) is the Alara Khan Caravanserai, or Alara Court, an architectural ensemble created in 1232 by order of the Seljuk Sultan Aladdin Keykubat I (as evidenced by the inscription above the portal with numerous words of praise for the Sultan). Not far from here, twenty kilometres away, is the Sharavsin caravanserai, built in the middle of the 13th century by the son of Sultan Aladdin Keykubat I.
Alara Khan was built to protect the caravans that passed along the Great Silk Road. These caravans travelling from Alaie to Konya and Antalya in the Middle Ages stopped at this very spot. Inns of this type were located at a distance of a day's journey from each other and were "nodal points" in the network of roads crossing Anatolia. In the 13th century the whole chain of caravanserais was fully formed, and Alara Khan was considered the best fortification on the entire southern coast.
Alara Khan is built of rough stone, its area is two thousand metres square. All the buildings in the caravanserai are arranged in groups, in the inner courtyards of which were rooms for transport - camels. Entering one of the doors one can get to the rooms intended for overnight stay. There are small rooms on both sides of the long corridor. There is also a bathhouse, a mesjit and a spring. The inscriptions of the craftsmen who built the building are left on the stones here. Often all inscriptions on the ancient buildings of Alania proclaimed Aladdin Keykubat "Ruler of the country of Persians and Arabs, Sultan of the land and two seas," and the Alar inscription also gives him the title "conqueror of the lands of Damascus, Rum, Frankish and Armenian."
The material of which all the walls of Alar Khan, except the eastern one, were made was carved stone. The three walls of this ensemble are held up by three- and four-cornered buttresses. The outer portal, located in the northern part and executed in the form of a low arch, is decorated with convex lion heads used as candlesticks.
This is the only monument of Seljuk architecture located here. Unlike other buildings of this type, there is no courtyard here - it is outside the caravanserai, behind its outer walls. At the entrance on the left side are a spring, a small mosque, a stone guardhouse, and a hamam on the right. Stables in the form of arches were built around the living quarters, surrounding Khan from three sides. To allow traders to see their animals and communicate with slaves, small windows were made in the back of the rooms.
To get to the dormitories, where there is a large courtyard, mosque and spring can be accessed from the courtyard behind the portal. The rooms have openings for light, concealing arches made in the shape of a cradle. Travellers used to dine in the evenings on these terraces with pointed arches.
At the entrance to Alara Khan, there are two small square towers with walls protected by a canopy on either side. The Great Hall of Khan is decorated and also covered by arches.
Alara Khan was restored a few years ago and today it is already open as a shopping centre and restaurant. The room where the inn's guard was located has retained its distinctive features even today. Nowadays, the caravanserai, which has been restored in the traditional Turkish style, hosts Turkish evenings for visitors and tourists.
In the north, 800 metres from the inn and nine kilometres from the coastline is the Alara Fortress. This unusual fortress is situated on a high hill, where the height difference is from 200 to 500 metres. The fortress looks truly mighty. It is divided into two parts - outer and inner. To get into the fortress you have to climb a hundred and twenty steps and walk through a dark and long corridor. Here you can come across ruins everywhere. This is due to the fact that it is not open as a museum for tourists to visit, so be careful and cautious. Tunnels have been hollowed out in the rocks inside the fortress. In these ruins you can see a small palace, a mosque and the offices of the fortress employees. Those who wish to climb the paths along the walls to the top of the fortress must have a lot of patience and comfortable shoes, as the ascent can take more than an hour. Nevertheless, once you get up there and see with your own eyes the view of the surrounding countryside, there will be no trace of fatigue.
