Maranjab

Maranjab lies amid sand dunes on the southern edge of Lake Namak, northeast of Kashan. The desert surrounds a Safavid caravanserai built to shelter travellers crossing the arid country. Its enclosed courtyard and solid walls offered a protected halt between the oasis settlements and the salt basin. The inn belongs to a network of caravanserais expanded under the Safavids, when roads carried merchants and other travellers across the central Iranian plateau.