Zein-o-din Caravanserai

Zein-o-din was built around 1600 under Shah Abbas I as one of a chain of caravanserais spaced a day's travel apart along the trade roads, and it is one of very few with a circular plan, with five round towers around a domed central hall and an octagonal courtyard, rather than the usual rectangle. It stood empty and decaying until a restoration in the 2000s, which won an award and turned it into a guesthouse: guests sleep in the alcoves around the courtyard on mattresses, as travellers did, with shared bathrooms in the outbuildings, and meals are served in the vaulted hall. It stands alone in flat desert with mountains on the horizon and no other building in sight, which is the reason to stay rather than pass.

History

Caravanserais in Persia go back some 2,500 years to the Achaemenids, and in the Safavid era they were built every 20 to 30 miles along the trade routes, many of them under Abbas the Great, who reigned from 1587 to 1629, and Abbas II; this one, of the 16th century, is one of 999 such inns built in Abbas the Great's reign, and one of only two with circular towers. Travellers paid an entry fee and a daily charge for a room about eight feet square with a fireplace, servants slept separately, and the keeper, who was entitled to collect sales tax and oversee all dealings, had to protect the merchants and their goods against theft. After its refurbishment it has operated as an inn, while a similar caravanserai near Isfahan is in ruins (Wikipedia, Ribat of Zein-o-din).

Highlights

• A circular caravanserai plan - five round towers, rare among Iranian examples.
• Sleeping in the courtyard alcoves - the bays travellers used, now as rooms.
• The vaulted central hall - the domed space used for meals.
• Total isolation - desert and mountains with no other building in sight.

When to go

March to May and October to November. Overnight is the point; a day visit gets little. Winter nights are very cold and summer days are severe. Book ahead, since capacity is small.

Good to know

Accommodation is deliberately basic: mattresses in open alcoves with curtains, shared bathrooms, and little privacy. It is not a hotel. There is nothing else within a long distance, so you eat what is served. Nights are cold much of the year.

Nearby

Yazd is north-west; the Kerman road runs south-east.

Key facts