The Martyrs’ Memorial and Tomb of Sultan al-Atrash, al-Qurayya

A memorial in the town of al-Qurayya, 19 kilometres south of Suwayda, honouring those killed in the Great Syrian Revolt of 1925–1927. The remains of Sultan Pasha al-Atrash, the revolt’s commander-in-chief, lie here too. The memorial stands opposite his house and opened on 17 April 2010. Next to it is a museum about the revolt and its men.

Getting there

Al-Qurayya is a Druze town south of Suwayda and east of Bosra, at about 1050 metres. It sits on the road towards Salkhad. The memorial is inside the town, with Sultan al-Atrash’s house and guest hall close by.

What to see

A square reached by broad steps, a domed building ringed by tall dark pylons at the centre, and low side buildings with arched doors on either hand. The state built it on the order of Hafez al-Assad, given after Sultan al-Atrash died in 1982, and it was opened on Evacuation Day. According to local sources, the memorial and museum together cost more than 100 million Syrian pounds.

Who was Sultan al-Atrash

Born in al-Qurayya, Sultan al-Atrash started the uprising in the Jabal against French Mandate rule in July 1925, and it soon spread across the country. During the revolt al-Qurayya was the main meeting place for the sheikhs of the rebel clans. Earlier, in a clash in the first years of the Mandate, the French had shelled the town and destroyed his house. He died on 26 March 1982, and hundreds of thousands of people attended his funeral.

The town’s older layer

Between 1830 and 1840 al-Qurayya became the main seat of the al-Atrash family. The town was exposed to Bedouin raids in those years, the heaviest in 1838, 1842 and 1846. Roman columns scattered through the streets and a Greek inscription dated 296 show that the settlement is far older. Fahd al-Atrash, father of the singers Farid al-Atrash and Asmahan, came from here as well.

What not to miss

The guest hall. The memorial is a new building. The room where meetings were held in Sultan al-Atrash’s day, and where people paid their last respects beside his body in 1982, is his madafa, the guest hall. It carries the town’s tie to the revolt more than the memorial does.

Where it stands now

Al-Qurayya is in Suwayda governorate, which has been inside an armed conflict since July 2025. The present condition of the memorial and museum cannot be confirmed from independent sources, and access to the region is not regular. This page tells you what the memorial is; it does not tell you that you can go there today.