Khan al-Nahhasin

It stands south of the Great Mosque, in the al-Muhammas stretch of the Al-Madina souq. It was built in 1539 and named after the coppersmiths — nahhasin — who worked the street. The copper benches are gone. The shops around the courtyard now sell shoes, and the count is given as 84. What sets this khan apart is not its trade. It was one of the first addresses in Aleppo where European consulates settled.

Getting there

Go down into the souq from the south side of the Great Mosque and turn into the al-Muhammas branch. Hammam al-Nahhasin, which carries the same name, is right next door; find the bath house door and you have found the khan. Khan al-Burghul is beside it too, so both fit into one walk. There is no sign. The lane is narrow.

What to see

You enter from the souq lane through an arched gate. Inside there is a square courtyard with two storeys of rooms around it: the ground floor held goods and shops, while the upper floor held the merchants who had come in with the caravans. The ground floor is now divided into shoe shops and the upper floor is mostly shut. What you are looking at is not a museum but a working souq courtyard.

Why the European consulates were here

The Venetian consul in Aleppo sat in this khan from 1537 onwards. A study of the Venetian community places the consular period between 1548 and 1675. It also shows that a khan was never only a place to buy and sell. Merchants slept here, worshipped here, and settled their disputes in the consul’s room. Venice kept its consulate general for Syria and Palestine at this address until the Republic itself came apart. The Belgian consulate is also said to have sat here, but the sources part ways — the same claim is made for Khan al-Kattan.

What most people miss

The bath house next door. Hammam al-Nahhasin dates from the 12th century, four centuries older than the khan. The shared name is no accident: coppersmiths worked this lane for centuries and the quarter took its name from the trade. Most visitors leave the khan, head straight back into the souq, and never see the bath house door.