Hans and Karavanserais in the Late Ottoman Vilayets of Selanik, Yanya, and Manastir

This dataset is based on a review of a combination of primary and secondary along with ethnographic and archaeological fieldwork in the area under study to record hans and caravanserais’ locations in the Late Ottoman vilayets of Thessaloniki (Selanik), Ioannina (Yanya), and Manastir. The dataset then presents the review of 13 primary sources, mainly travel accounts, that cover a period from the middle 17th century to the first quarter of 20th, and 21 secondary published research accounts. The fieldwork presented here, covers five fieldwork seasons in Thessaly, Southern Albania, and Greek Macedonia that took place between 2018 and 2023. A total of 514 hans were recorded alongside their locations, architectural type, century of construction, ownership status, and state of preservation. This is the largest dataset to date of any han network across the Ottoman Empire, and not only on the Ottoman Europe. The earliest hans located have been established in the 16th century (n=10), while the majority of the hans have been developed during the 19th century (n=429).
The dataset contains the hans names, locations, ownership, revenue beneficiary, century of construction, state of preservation, sources that refer that han, and modern day area that the han is located. All coordinates are in decimal degrees in WGS84. The dataset is enhanced with two maps showing the locations of the hans, alongside the main road networks of the era.