Panair Inn

Scroll down
Scroll down

Panair Inn

Panair Inn was an inn in Plovdiv built in the 15th century on the orders of Shahabeddin Ghazi Pasha, the beylerbey, or governor, of Rumelia. It stood between the wooden bridge over the River Maritsa and the Hünkar public bath, or hammam, opposite the complex of buildings around the Imaret Mosque constructed by the pasha. The complex also included a religious school, or madrasa, and a kitchen, or imaret, offering free food to the poor and needy and to travellers passing through the town. The bath operated throughout the Ottoman period and served merchants staying at the inn.

Because the inn was close to the Tash Kapia prison, it was used to imprison captured participants in the April Uprising and arrested members of the Bulgarian Volunteer Corps who had taken part in the revolutionary events of 1877. Around 253 people in total died in the prison and in the Plovdiv inns used as prisons. Some were hanged in Plovdiv's streets and in the inn's courtyard, while others were killed in the Ostromila locality on the day of Plovdiv's liberation, 16 January 1878.

On 5 August 1880, Dimitar Atanasov opened the Maritsa Hotel in the restored inn. It was demolished in 1983 during construction of the pedestrian bridge. A car park now occupies its site.

Plovdiv, Mid-15th century