When you leave the Madrassa Adiliyah turn to the right and you will return to Souk Hamidiyeh near the Arch of Triumph.
Go straight and you will see a caravanserai, the Khan EI-Gumrock on your right and a hammam on the left, then
another caravanserai the Khan EI-Harir on the right, built in 1572 by an Ottoman governor Derwish Pasha. These
caravanserais were a type of hostel complete with stables and warehouses and even some kind of stock exchange
where foreign and local merchants did their buying and selling. They met in a square yard surrounded by galleries
containing shops and stables.
The bedrooms were upstairs. In the case of the first caravanserai (Khan EI-Gumrock), the central smaller yard
was covered for the protection of the merchandise. Near the Khan EI-Harir turn right into Souk Moawiyah, almost
in front of the Madrassa Nuriyah, another funeral madrassa, built in 1171 and where Sultan Noureddin was buried.
The outside of the tomb is interesting on account of a dome supported by a superposition of alcoves with
alveolus
and stalactites, while on the inside, the dome with stalactites looks like an exploded volcanic rock of
crystallized
quartz. This type of architecture was introduced into Syria from Iraq.
About one hundred meters further up and turning to the left there is the unassuming portal of the Azem Palace,
a marvel of Damascene architecture built in 1749-1752 by Assad Pasha EI-Azem, an Ottoman governor of Damascus.
Actually, the Palace was enriched with decorative items taken from various Damascene monuments and houses. Today
the palace houses the Museum of Popular Arts and Traditions, an institution of inestimable interest where you will
find displayed for their safe keeping objects of current life, household or professional, and settings of how the
Damascene high society and their cousins lived in the 18th and 19th centuries. |
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