It is a small inn with a trapezoidal plan, made of cut stone, located in the north of the current Asmaaltı Square, formerly known as “Wheat Market”. It is the largest and oldest inn of Nicosia after the Great Inn. Although the exact date of construction is not known, it dates back to A.D. XV-XVI. It was determined that it was built on ruins from the same periods, using the old building ruins from the Middle Ages in the 19th century. As a matter of fact, the arched entrance door seen immediately after the entrance of the inn and the foundation ruins exhibited in the room in the northwest corner of the inn belong to the Venetian or Lusignan period.
It was possible to determine the original name of the inn from archive documents and other publications that have survived 268 years before and after. In the document dated March 31, 1748 in the Sharia Registry number 16 in the Foundations archive, it is recorded that the name of the current Kumarcılar Inn is mentioned as “KUMARΔ and that it belongs to the Kılıç Ali Pasha Foundation together with the bath next to it. Again, the name of the inn was mentioned as “KUMARCI INN” in two separate documents dated between 1811 and 1836 AD, which are found in the Cyprus Court Records numbered 32 and 36. Local and foreign writers who have visited Nicosia since 1873 have generally referred to the name of the inn as ‘Kumarcılar Inn’. In 1881, Captain H.H. On the map of Nicosia drawn by Kitchener, its name appears as “KÜÇÜK HAN”.
It was also mentioned among the people as the “Pedd Instrumentalists’ Inn” and “The Kemaneciler Inn”. As a matter of fact, even in our recent past, it is remembered that musicians who went to circumcision and wedding ceremonies would sit in front of the ‘Asmalı Kahve’, which is attached to the Kumarcılar Inn in Asmaaltı Square, and wait for customers.
While the “Kumari Inn”, which belonged to the Kılıç Ali Pasha Foundation as of 1748, became the private property of Fuat Tüccarbaşı, brother of Derviş Pasha, over time, through the icareteyn (double rent) Foundation method, the Elmazlı Hamam opposite the inn belonged to the widow of Mir-i Miran Vizier Osman Pasha. It became the private property of Miralay Tahir Ağa, who was punished by being beheaded for stepping in the bathhouse. In the 1950s, this inn was registered in the land registry in the names of Mehmet İzzet Bey and Mehmet Asım Bey, two of the Merchants of Nicosia. Its first restoration was carried out between 1937 and 1957. In order for its further restoration to take place, it was registered as an antique work by the Department of Antiques and an annual rent of 70 Cyprus Liras was paid to its heirs between 1958 and 1963. After the death of the Tüccarbaşı, this inn was inherited by his daughters Hürmüs Hanım and Fezile Hanım. Later, although 25% of the shares of this inn remained in the ownership of Behzat Aziz Beyli and his family, the 75% shares of the other shareholders were sold to Tourism Operator Con Aziz Kent. With the contract signed by the Ministry of Tourism and Environment with the owners on July 12, 2011, the right to use the inn for 15 years was taken over from the owners.
It is a typical example of the urban trade inns of the Ottoman period. The central courtyard of the inn can be reached through the medieval arch in the entrance hall of the inn. Although it had 52 original rooms, only 44 of them have survived to the present day. The rooms are located above and below the round columned arches surrounding the central courtyard. While the lower rooms were used for storage and stable purposes, the upper rooms were used for sleeping purposes. The upper rooms have barrel vaults and the wooden porticoes in front of the rooms are covered with tiles. Some rooms have a stove. The rooms have marble floors and rectangular and loophole windows opening to the outside. The floors of the rooms are laid with smoothly cut marble.