The Al-Tawashi Mosque

One of the Mamluk mosques of Aleppo. Safi ad-Din Jawhar al-Tawashi had it built in 1348, and Saadallah al-Malati enlarged it in 1537. It stands outside the walls in the al-Qasileh quarter, towards Bab al-Nairab. What identifies the mosque is not its minaret but the long facade it presents to the street.

Getting there

Walk south from the citadel along the Bab al-Maqam road. The mosque runs along the roadside as a low, long wall. The short minaret is the only marker, and it is easy to pass without noticing.

What to see

The facade. Pointed-arch niches run the length of the street wall, with engaged columns set between them. Other buildings in Aleppo use the same arrangement, but here you read it end to end on a single surface. The muqarnas hood above the entrance arch and the inscription band beneath it are the most worked part of the wall.

Where things stand

The minaret was under repair scaffolding in 2010. The mosque sits in the southern quarters, which were heavily damaged in the fighting of 2012-2016. Its present condition, and whether it is open for prayer, has to be asked locally. If the door is shut, the facade is visible from the street anyway, and most of what this page describes is outside.

What most people miss

The muqarnas cells at the top of the entrance arch. Look up from the threshold where the black-and-white paving begins and the hood, the inscription band and the capitals on either side line up in one frame.