Old City Route · 3Grand Baku Tour · 4

Multani & Bukhara Caravanserais

Merchants' inns · 14th–15th century · Icherisheher, near the Maiden Tower, Baku

Ludvig14 · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Resized; cropped for display

Baku lay on trade routes between Europe and Asia. Merchants with their caravans stayed in caravanserais – inns built around a courtyard, with rooms for people and space for goods and animals.

The names recall where the traders came from: Multan in today's Pakistan and Bukhara in today's Uzbekistan. Today the old courtyards house restaurants.

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The names Multani and Bukhara carry a reminder of Baku's trading connections. Multan is in present-day Pakistan; Bukhara is in present-day Uzbekistan. Merchants arriving from far away needed somewhere to rest, and these caravanserais provided that stopping place.

A caravanserai was an inn organised around a shared courtyard. The arched rooms and stone spaces help explain how people, goods and everyday business could come together in one place. Notice the repeated arches, rather than looking only at the entrance. Parts of these historic buildings are now used by hospitality businesses. Ask before entering occupied areas or photographing the people using them.

Directions Photographs

Look for

The inner courtyard with its arched rooms.

Riddle