aravanserai(where merchant traders gathered before forming a caravan) dates from around 1500. The town's older districts (which were filled with ornate mansion-houses mostly dating from the 18th and 19th centuries) were subjected to wholesale demolitions starting in the 1970s. The city is famous for its carpet sellers, and a range of carpets and rugs can be purchased reasonably ranging from new to 50 or more years old.
In the 4th century the city became central to early Christianity when St. Basil the Great established an ecclesiastical centre here. It is a Roman Catholic titular see and was the seat of an Armenian diocese.
The building that hosts the Kayseri lyceum was arranged to host the Turkish Grand National Assembly during the Turkish War of Independence when the Greek army had advanced very close to Ankara, the base of the Turkish National Movement
