The hidden caravanserai: Kursunlu Han in Karakoy, Istanbul

The caravanserai of Rüstem Pasha (Istanbul), also known as Kursunlu Han, is in the district of Karaköy, formerly the district of Galata. Built in the 1500s above the ruins of St. Michael church, it was a resting place for caravans. Today, the cells which face the inner courtyard house hardware shops and ateliers, while from the outside the building is almost hidden from view due to the presence of new urban agglomerations built all along its borders. In this research the procedures for the quite complex digital survey of the caravanserai, integrating different parts from 3D laser scanner and photogrammetry, annotations and direct reconstructions will be presented and explained. Due to the difficulties raised from a limited accessibility imposed by the property to the laser-scanner unit and from the spaces used for market purposes, an accurate system of photogrammetry was operated to complete the coverage and documentation of such spaces, integrating the data using state-of-the-art softwares to fulfil the task. Thanks to the integration of the information collected, metric, morphological and material data have been obtained providing an overall 3D image of this hidden architecture.