Damascus Historic Palaces and Houses
Visit the magnificent courtyard palaces and traditional houses of Damascus old city, where the inward-looking architecture of the Islamic city hides extraordinary decorated interiors behind plain exterior walls in one of the worlds great domestic architectural traditions.
- 1
Azm Palace
Tour Azm Palace, the 18th century Ottoman residence of the governor of Damascus, its three courtyards with fountains and gardens surrounded by elaborately decorated rooms with marble floors, painted wooden ceilings, and the finest Syrian decorative arts.
- 2
Beit Nizam
Enter Beit Nizam, one of the finest traditional Damascus houses, its main courtyard with the pool, lemon trees, and jasmine that create the private paradise hidden behind the blank street walls of old Damascus domestic architecture.
- 3
Beit Jabri
Visit a converted Damascus palace now operating as a restaurant and cultural space, the reception rooms with their painted vaulted ceilings, the colored glass windows, and the courtyard fountain demonstrating the sophistication of traditional Damascene domestic life.
- 4
Beit al-Mamlouka
Explore a restored Mamluk-era house where the carved stone portals, the ablaq black and white stonework, and the decorated reception rooms of the 14th century Mamluk aristocracy survive in remarkable preservation in the old city.
- 5
Hidden Courtyard Gardens
Discover the hidden courtyard gardens of old Damascus where fruit trees, flowers, and fountains create private paradises invisible from the street, the Persian-influenced garden concept adapted to the Syrian climate in the domestic architecture of a great Islamic city.
- 6
Palace Architecture
Understand the principles of Damascus palace architecture where the iwan, the qa'a, and the andaron create a hierarchy of public to private space, the spatial organization of the traditional Islamic house reflecting both social structure and the climate of inland Syria.