The Darwish Pasha Mosque

It stands at the west end of Straight Street, with a door opening straight onto the pavement. That door is the part people stop for. Darwish Pasha, Ottoman governor of Damascus, built the mosque in 1574. Locally it is the Darwishiyya. The quarter took the same name.

Getting there

At the western head of the Souq Midhat Pasha, near Bab al-Jabiya. Walk south from the Al-Hamidiyah Souq until you meet Straight Street; the mosque is then on your right. Because the door gives onto the street, people assume there is no courtyard. There is one. It begins just past the door.

What to see

The facade is built in bands of black basalt and white limestone. Two Iznik tile panels flank the arch: blue and green flowers on white. Above the arch sits a pierced stone screen, and below it a tiled inscription. All of it is visible from the street, and it is the best-kept facade in the quarter. Inside, a fountain stands in the middle of the courtyard. The public water fountain beside the door was built with the mosque.

Its condition today

The canopy over the minaret balcony fell during the last century and was rebuilt. The mosque was shut for some years, then repaired and reopened for prayer on 9 August 2010. The door is open during daylight now. Time your visit outside the prayers.