Takiyya Sulaymaniyya

About this place

The Takiyya Sulaymaniyya is an Ottoman complex in Damascus on the right bank of the Barada river, built to serve pilgrims and the poor with food and lodging. It is one of the most beautiful Ottoman buildings in Damascus and is seen as the city's most important Ottoman cultural landmark. Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent commissioned it to plans by the architect Sinan, and the western building went up between 1554 and 1559, with a madrasa added to the east in 1566, known as the Salimiyya Madrasa. It stands on the site of the Ablaq Palace built by Sultan Baybars. It brought the Ottoman style to Damascus and became an important stop on the Syrian pilgrim route to Mecca. You see a mosque with a large dome and two slender Ottoman minarets, a portico of arches and columns in front, and a wide courtyard with a long rectangular pool. Around the courtyard are small domed rooms once used by pilgrims, and the entrance has fine stone muqarnas and bands of black and white stone. The Umayyad Mosque is about 1.4 km away in a straight line. The mosque is a place of worship, so dress modestly and avoid prayer times. The UK Foreign Office currently advises against all travel to Syria, and British consular help is not available there, so check official guidance before making any plans.