The Abdullah al-Azm Madrasa

Inside the walls, ten paces from the tailors’ souq, a plain door on a lane. It is easy to walk past in the crowd; the building starts once you are in the courtyard — a fountain at the centre, and around it two storeys of arcades laid in courses of black basalt and pale limestone. Abdullah Pasha al-Azm, of the Azm family, built it in 1779.

Who built it

The Azm family supplied Damascus with governors through the 18th century, and Abdullah Pasha was one of them. He founded the madrasa first and took office later: governor of Aleppo from 1794, then governor of Damascus until 1807. So this is not the work of a governor but of a man who would become one.

What to see

The courtyard is square and closed, and the noise of the lane stops at the door. Both tiers of arches are striped, and a turned wooden balustrade runs along the upper gallery. The third storey was added later and is modern: the stone changes there, and you can pick out the join at a glance. The small mosque on the south side of the courtyard is still in use, with shoes left outside its door.

The portal over the street door is the most worked part of the building. A three-line inscription is cut into a green panel, framed by star-shaped fields and carved stone rosettes; the foundation year is given in the Hijri calendar and corresponds to 1779.

How long it takes

20 minutes. It no longer works as a madrasa, and for a while an antiques shop occupied the courtyard; what you come for now is the court, the arcades and the mosque. The Khan al-Khayyatin and the Nur al-Din hammam sit on the same block and the Azm Palace is a hundred metres east, so four sites fit into one walk.

Don’t miss

If the terrace is open, the Umayyad Mosque is visible from it; the two stand about two hundred metres apart. You have to ask whoever unlocks the door, and it is not possible every day, but from up there the roofs of the old city close the whole distance.