Mašković Han, Vrana

Mašković Han near Vrana, in the municipality of Pakoštane in Zadar County, is described as the most significant Turkish building in Dalmatia. It is of interest to visitors as a rare surviving example of Ottoman caravanserai architecture in this part of Croatia.

The han was built in 1644 and 1645 by the Turkish vizier Jusuf Mašković as a caravanserai. It was conceived and partly built in one go, in a representative and monumental way, of high-quality dressed stone. The space is divided into two large courtyards, along whose edges buildings are lined up. The entrance gate on the axis of the building is called the tower (kula) and is the only entrance to the han. On the same axis, inside the courtyard, stands a shadirvan (fountain) open with arches of the Islamic type.

The han is a protected cultural good and is entered in the Register of Cultural Goods of the Republic of Croatia under the code Z-1230.

Photo: Roberta F., CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons.
Data: Register of Cultural Goods of the Republic of Croatia (Ministry of Culture and Media), Open Licence; coordinates: Wikidata (CC0).