imaret

1. (historical or architecture) An Ottoman soup kitchen built between the fourteenth and nineteenth centuries, often part of a larger complex or waqf.Examples: "Yıldırım Bayezid had located his imaret in the opposite direction, some two kilometers to the east of the city. Mehmed I chose a site closer to the center, between the imarets of Orhan Gazi and Yıldırım Bayezid."; "It was originally built as a zaviye, or hostel, for members of the Ahi Brotherhood of Virtue; later it became an imaret, serving free food to the poor of Iznik."; "He lived in an elegant stone house, a part of the Imaret of Haseki Sultan."historical