Khan Jaqmaq

Sayf al-Din Jaqmaq, the Mamluk deputy governor of Damascus, built it in 1421. The khan was largely rebuilt in 1601, so most of the stone you touch is Ottoman work. It is one of the few khans left standing in the old city, and because it is buried inside the souq you can walk past it without noticing.

Getting there

On the Midhat Pasha souq. The souq once took its name from this building and was long called Souq Jaqmaq. Enter from the Bab al-Jabiya end and walk east; on your right, among the shopfronts, you will see a tall doorway, and the courtyard is behind it. Five minutes on foot from Khan As’ad Pasha.

What to see

The court has two floors. Storerooms and shops below, and above them the rooms where merchants once slept; the gallery that runs in front of those rooms rests on basalt arches, and a row of small domes covers the arcade. The black and white stone of Damascus is structural here rather than decorative, and the plainness is what gives the khan its character.

How it stands today

The khan is still in use. Most of the cells opening onto the court are now textile and craft workshops; there are a few trees in the middle and stalls along the edges. This is a working commercial building, not a restored museum — come expecting that.

Don’t miss

If you can get up to the upper gallery, look down into the court: only from there does the row of domes read as one thing. Access depends on the shopkeepers, so you have to ask.