The Khanqah al-Farafira

Walk north from the citadel into the al-Farafira quarter and this is the building. It was built in 1237 by Dayfa Khatun, widow of az-Zahir Ghazi and regent of Aleppo from 1237 to 1244. On the day it opened it was the largest khanqah — Sufi lodge — in the city. Its first name was al-Ribat al-Nasiri, and it was where the dervishes gathered.

Getting there

The al-Farafira quarter lies north of the citadel, inside the Old City. You do not enter from a main façade but from a narrow lane; asking for the quarter by name is enough to find the door.

What to see

The portal is hooded with muqarnas, the stalactite vaulting of Ayyubid stonework. The way in is not straight: the passage turns once, hiding the courtyard from the lane. That is borrowed from the houses of Aleppo, where public buildings of the period usually had straight entrances. A stone basin for ablutions stands in the middle of the square courtyard. On the south side is the marble mihrab: an octagonal base, a hood of muqarnas, columns to either side.

Who lived here

A khanqah was a place for dervishes and Sufis, but this one was also a shelter for women: widowed, elderly or divorced women with nowhere to go stayed here until they married again. A narrow passage east of the courtyard leads to a second, smaller court and the rooms kept for guests; the stair on the west side climbs to more rooms on the roof. Under the French Mandate the building housed soldiers brought from Africa to serve in the French army.

Do not miss

The inscription panel above the door. It gives the date of the building and verses 34 and 35 of Surat Fatir. Most visitors walk straight in and never read it.