The Syrian Military Museum

There is a museum inside the best-known Ottoman building in Damascus. The west part of the Tekkiye Sulaymaniyya complex was given over to the Syrian Military Museum in 1959. The architect Sinan built that complex between 1554 and 1559. Since then two fighter jets have stood in front of its lead domes. No other corner of the city puts those two things side by side.

Getting there

On Shukri al-Quwatli Street, near the main building of Damascus University. Walking west from Marjeh Square takes about ten minutes. The National Museum of Damascus is on the adjoining plot, so both fit into one walk.

Is it open

Work at the museum’s premises inside the Tekkiye was halted in 2011, and it was decided to move the collection to a new building in northern Damascus, near the Panorama museum. How far that move has got, and whether the door is open, has to be asked on the spot. The courtyard and the mosque of the complex operate separately from the museum, so the walk is not wasted even if the door is shut.

What to see

The halls were divided into ancient history, bladed weapons, light and heavy firearms, Syrian revolts, and flags and banners; a separate section dealt with the 1973 war. The garden display was in the open air: old fighter aircraft, artillery pieces, heavy equipment. The jets sit right in front of the run of domes and can be seen from the courtyard.

Don’t miss

The space capsule in the garden. Syrian and Soviet cosmonauts came back to Earth in it at the end of their joint flight. It is the most unexpected object here, and most visitors look at the aircraft and walk straight past it.