Khan al-Banadiqa, the Venetians’ Khan

The name simply means “the Venetians”. Venetian merchants trading into Aleppo, and the Venetian consul in the city, lodged in this khan — a khan being a merchants’ inn built around a courtyard. It stands near the Great Mosque, around Souq al-Darb, and the oldest dated record of Aleppo opening to European trade belongs to this building.

What was signed in 1207

A trade agreement was made between the Venetian envoy Pietro Marignani and al-Zahir Ghazi, the Ayyubid ruler of Aleppo. It gave the Venetians the right to buy, sell, barter and exchange in this khan using their own currency. That turned the building into more than lodging: where each foreign nation did business in the city was fixed together with the walls it sat in.

Getting there

The khan sits inside the souq lanes that ring the Great Mosque. There is no sign, and no way to find it except by asking. If you have reached Souq al-Darb, the khan is close. Repairs in the Al-Madina souq run section by section, so which lane is open can change from week to week.

What to see

The plan is rectangular with two courtyards: one large and half-rectangular, the other small and square. The facade is described in the sources as “Gothic”, which is not the usual word for khan architecture in Aleppo, and it is what people point to when they look for a European hand in the building. Inside there was a silk store and an auction hall dated 1574. A prayer room, a bath, a bakery and a kitchen stood in the khan as well, so a merchant could live without stepping outside the gate.

Not the same building as Khan al-Nahhasin

The two are often confused. The Venetian consulate moved to Khan al-Nahhasin in the middle of the 16th century, while al-Banadiqa is the older Venetian khan, the one behind the agreement of 1207. Some sources treat them as a single building. When you ask for directions in the souq, say which one you want, or you will be sent to the other.

What most people miss

The small square courtyard. It is easy to walk into the large one and think you have seen the khan; the idea of the building is in how the two courtyards join. Ask where the prayer room was, too — that is what shows the compound fed and housed itself.