Featured places
Mosques, caravanserais, souks, museums — and why they are worth the walk.
10 Places
Mausoleum of Kujkun al-Mansuri, Damascus
A Mamluk tomb of 1312 in Salihiyya, Damascus, where the emir Kujkun lies. Its endowment inscription runs across three stone courses on the north wall.
Damascus · Mamluk
Mausoleum of Ibn al-Muqaddam (Talha Mosque), Damascus
An Ayyubid tomb of 1201 in Souq Saruja, Damascus, enclosed since 1993 by the Talha Mosque: a 12-ribbed dome and tall pointed arches. Near Dahdah Cemetery.
Damascus · Ayyubid — 1993 mosque extension
Tomb of Ibn Salama al-Raqqi, Damascus
An Ayyubid tomb of 1213 in Salihiyya, Damascus: a 16-ribbed dome on a two-tier drum and a lintel inscription giving the date of death. West of the Al-Sahiba Madrasa.
Damascus · Ayyubid
Farrukh Shah and Bahramshah Mausoleums, Damascus
Two Ayyubid tombs side by side in Abu Rummaneh, Damascus: the dome of Saladin’s nephew Farrukh Shah, now a prayer room, and his son’s tomb, restored in 2005.
Damascus · Ayyubid
Sheikh Saleh al-Ali Mausoleum and Museum, al-Shaykh Badr
The hilltop tomb of Saleh al-Ali, who launched the 1918 revolt against French rule, with a museum of the uprising above al-Shaykh Badr and an April festival.
Tartus · 1918–1921 revolt; post-independence monument
Turba al-Takritiyya, Salihiyya
A Mamluk tomb on the street of madrasas in Salihiyya, Damascus, built for Taqi al-Din al-Takriti, an official of Sultan Qalawun. Neglected, but still standing.
Damascus · Mamluk
Tomb of Mehmed VI, the Last Ottoman Sultan, in Damascus
Mehmed VI Vahideddin, the last Ottoman sultan, lies in the cemetery of the Takiyya al-Sulaymaniyya in Damascus. Why he was buried here and what the grave shows.
Damascus · Post-Ottoman — buried 1926
Graves of the Ottoman Aviators, Damascus
Three Ottoman airmen killed in 1914 lie in the courtyard of Saladin’s tomb in Damascus: Fethi, Sadık and Nuri. The graves are just north of the Umayyad Mosque.
Damascus · Ottoman (1914)
The Tomb of Imadaddin Nasimi
Where the poet Nasimi lies in Aleppo: a walled tomb in a small Sufi lodge on the lane named after him in al-Farafira. Its repair came back on the agenda in 2025.
Aleppo · Mamluk
Mausoleum of Amat al-Latif, Damascus
A small domed tomb in Salihiyya, Damascus, for Amat al-Latif: Hanbali scholar, author, founder of madrasas and adviser to Saladin’s sister Rabi’a Khatun.
Damascus · Ayyubid
