The Al-Sarawi Mosque

North-east of the citadel, a Mamluk mosque set into the daily fabric of the Bayada quarter. Its inscriptions tie the building to Nasir al-Din Muhammad al-Sarawi and to the year 780/1378; its second name, the Bayada Mosque, comes from the quarter, and the sources use the two names interchangeably. This is not a monument visit but a working neighbourhood mosque: bread stalls are set up at the door and the street fills up towards midday.

Getting there

From the citadel square it is 350 metres north-east, towards the Bayada market. Bab al-Hadid lies 250 metres further on, so anyone entering by the northern gate passes this way. Hammam al-Bayada is 20 metres along the street; the two count as one stop.

How long it takes

Twenty minutes. The façade reads from the street in a single look, and the courtyard is small.

What to see

The work is on the façade. The portal onto the street is a tall arched recess cut into the wall; the hood of the arch is filled with rows of muqarnas, and a carved medallion sits on its face. Inscription panels run along the wall above the windows. At the right end stands the octagonal minaret, short in the shaft, its balcony carried on a wooden eave.

Do not miss

Look at the inscription panel above the portal. The date and the founder of the building are read from it. Most visitors go straight to the minaret and walk on.

Where things stand

The quarter lay inside the Aleppo fighting between 2012 and 2016, and damage is widespread in this part of the old city. We have no dated record of the state of the mosque today; ask in the quarter whether the door is open.