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The caravansaray of Selim, was built in 1332
by Prince Chesar Orbelian, according to an inscription in Armenian and
Arabic. This caravansaray offered hospitality to travelers who used the
highway crossing the Selim (Sulema) mountains. The best preserved of all
medieval caravanserais in Armenia, it comprises a vaulted anteroom and a
large hall, partitioned into three sections lighted through openings in
the ceiling. This building is an excellent example of Armenian secular
architecture in the Middle Ages.
Selim
Caravansaray lies below the road just before the summit on the south side
of Selim Pass (2410 m), a splendid relic of the days when an international
trade route connected Vayots Dzor to the Sevan basin and points North.
According to the Armenian inscription on the right inside the door, Prince
Chesar Orbelian and his brothers built this rest-house in 1332 in the
reign of Abu Said Il Khan, "the ruler of the world," whose death in 1335
deprived the world of an enlightened Mongol despot and ushered in a new
wave of invasions.
Selim is built of basalt blocks, with a
cavernous central hall for animals separated from the two vaulted side
aisles by rows of stone mangers. Bring a flashlight (though the dim light
through the smoke holes in the roof adds a proper medieval flavor). There
is a little spring/fountain monument just uphill beyond the caravansaray.
In old times many roads went through
Armenia, which connected different parts of the country and neighboring
countries, and had economical and military importance. To serve in the
roads there were built caravanserais, which represented unique
architectural monuments of Medieval Armenia.
Selims caravanserai was restored in
1956-1959.
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