Koya city caravanserai or "Khani Koya", is one of the ancient monuments of the Koya area its remains can still be seen and in its own time, it was built as a motel for the tradesmen stay and store their goods in this place.

Koya city which is located between the three provinces of Hewler, Kirkuk, and Suleimani and it is a spot where all these three cities meet, is one of the ancient cities of the Kurdistan Region with an old civilization.

Due to its geographical location in the past, it was a significant trading center where the regions' tradesmen and those from the central and southern cities of Iraq would meet.

The History of Koya Caravanserai

This caravanserai that is also known as "Khan Mahmoud Agha", was built by Mahmoud Agha Ghafouri who was the chief of one of the large and well-known houses of Koya in 1862 during the reign of the Ottomans.

He built this caravanserai in Koya because, during the eighteenth, nineteenth, and twentieth centuries, this city was the joining point of Qaladze, Sardasht, Kirkuk, Sulaimani, and Hewler for trading goods.

The caravans brought trading goods from these cities and had stayed in this motel on the way of transferring their goods to the other cities and in addition to resting here they also had sold a part of their loads and transferred the rest of them to other cities of Kurdistan and Iraq.

The Building Structure of Koya Caravanserai

The caravanserai is made of two floors and 60 rooms. It is almost built in a square shape. It has an area of 1122 cubic meters. The rooms are built in all four parts of the building. The top floor rooms were used as resting places for the tradesmen and their offices to record their trading information. All these rooms have fireplaces and windows constructed neatly. Most of the parts on the first floor had been constructed as storage rooms to keep the tradesmen's loads. A part of it was a stable for keeping the horses and other animals. In some of the rooms, the remains of that time can still be seen.

Lords were dominant in most of this region's cities like Kifri, Suleimani, and Hewler. There were other lords in Koya, too but unfortunately, all the rest have been ruined and only this place has remained as a lord's construction work.

The Significance of Koya Caravanserai in the Past

Koya caravanserai helped Koya city to become a trading place in the past. Its strategic geographical location which is to be between Hewler, Suleimani, and Kirkuk has helped the city to become an important trading center.

Another important feature of Koya is being close to the small Zab River which was a place for collecting the trading goods here and transferring them to Pirde, Kirkuk, and the central and southern cities of Iraq.

At that time, animal skin, beans, and tobacco were imported from the southern and eastern cities of Kurdistan and exported to the Iraqi cities. On the returning way, they brought fabrics, clothes, dates, salt, and other necessary goods to the region, thus this motel made the trading relationships easier and stronger.

Repairing Koya Caravanserai

At the end of the past century, a part of the caravanserai was repaired by its owners and in 2005 a small part of it that was about to collapse was fixed. However, repairing this building was not as much as it is necessary and the Cultural Heritage Organization stopped the project at that time, thus unfortunately, the necessary proceedings have not been carried out and a part of the caravanserai was ruined.

The Tourist Importance of Koya Caravanserai

A large number of tourists visit Koya every day, and the places they want to see are "Koya or Khan Koya, Qishlay Koya, and some other historical and cultural buildings like Qaysari and main Mosque". Foreign tourists also visit the city continually. Central and Southern Iraqi cities' tourists visit this city, particularly those who come to the area with tour groups to visit Koya Caravanserai and would like to see this historical place and its remains.