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Ayyam Gallery
In a chic, sleek art space designed by Syrias revered architect Ghiath Machnok, this is one of the regions most exciting galleries, showing engaging work by Syrian artists such as Abdulla Murad, Safwan Dahoul, Mounzer Kamnakache, Yousset Abdelke and Fadi Yazigi.
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Hama Museum
A 4th-century-AD mosaic depicting a noria is one of the artefacts displayed in the museum, 1.5km north of the centre. Other exhibits cover the region in the Iron Age, Roman and Islamic periods. All are well presented and have informative labelling in English.
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Khan Rustum Pasha
The two noteworthy khans that Hama does possess have long since been pressed into other uses: Khan Rustum Pasha (1556), just south of the town centre on Sharia al-Murabet, is an orphanage (although its occasionally open to the public as an exhibition space).
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Khan az
Straight Street is busiest at the western end (Souq Medhat Pasha), where its largely devoted to shops selling textiles and clothes. There are several old khans in this area, their gates still locked at night. On the north side is the pretty Khan az-Zeit.
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Madrassa az
Northwest of Saladin’s mausoleum is the restored 13th-century madrassa, within which is buried Sultan Beybars – another Islamic warrior hero, this time of the Mamluk dynasty. It was Beybars who won several decisive victories over the Crusaders, driving them from the region.
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Artists’ Palace
The so-called Artists Palace occupies a former khan, or travellers inn; the old storerooms are now used as makeshift studio and exhibition spaces for local artists, some of whose work is for sale. The khan doesnt really compare with those seen in Damascus and Aleppo.
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Madrassa as
Opposite the Citadel entrance is the Ayyubid Madrassa as-Sultaniyya. The prayer hall has a striking mihrab (niche indicating the direction of Mecca) with eye-catching ornamentation achieved through multicoloured marble inlays. Unfortunately this part of the building is often locked
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Hammam Naeem
Hammam Naeem, also known as Hammam al-Jedida, is a quiet, clean, friendly, men-only place north of the main souq street. To find it, coming from Bab Antakya along Souq Bab Antakya, take the first left after the start of the corrugated-iron roofing and its just ahead on the right.
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Takiyya as
Immediately east of the National Museum is the black-and-white-striped Takiyya as-Süleimaniyya, built in 1554 to the design of the Ottoman Empire’s most brilliant architect, Mirmar Sinan. It’s currently closed to the public, but the pencil-thin Ottoman-style minarets tower above th
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Bab Touma
For most of their length, the Old City Walls are obscured by later constructions. Its not possible to do a circuit of the walls, nor get up on the ramparts. However, there is a fine short walk between Bab as-Salaama and Bab Touma along the outside of the walls by a channel of the B
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Nabo Temple
The ruined area to the left immediately after passing through the arch of the Great Colonnade is a small trapezoidal temple built in the 1st century AD and dedicated to Nabo, the Palmyrene god of destinies. All thats left are the temple podium, lower courses of the outer walls and
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Sharaf Mosque
To the north of Saahat al-Hatab is Sharaf Mosque, one of the neighbourhoods earliest monuments, built in the reign of the Mamluk sultan Qaitbey (r 1468-96). At the western corner, just the other side of Orient House Antiques, a stylised sculpture of two robed women marks the turn f
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St Paul’s Chapel
Marks the spot where, according to the biblical tale, the disciples lowered St Paul out of a window in a basket one night so that he could flee the Jews. The simple stone chapel occupies the gate itself; to get here, you have to leave the Old City via Bab Sharqi and follow the wall
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Temple of Bel
The single most impressive part of the ruins and the most complete structure is this temple, also known as the Sanctuary of Bel. Although very little is known about Palmyras deities, Bel is assumed to be the most important of the gods in the Palmyrene pantheon, the equivalent of th
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Khan Süleiman Pasha
Straight Street is busiest at the western end (Souq Medhat Pasha), where its largely devoted to shops selling textiles and clothes. There are several old khans in this area, their gates still locked at night. Khan Süleiman Pasha, built in 1732, has a central courtyard that was form
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Imaret Sultan Süleiman
Imaret Sultan Süleiman, another building designed by Sinan (the architect behind Takiyya as-Süleimaniyya), is across the main street. Historian Ross Burns, in Monuments of Syria: A Historical Guide, suggests the Hanbila Mosque is worth a visit for the Crusader columns in the courty
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Bimaristan Arghan
Directly across the street, behind railings, is the splendid Bimaristan Arghan, one of the most enchanting buildings in Aleppo. Dating from the 14th century, it was converted from a house into an asylum. The main entrance gives access to a beautifully kept courtyard with a central
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Eastern Temple Gate
From the Sayyida Ruqayya mosque, follow the lane that runs due east, and turn right (south) at the T-junction leading to a crossroad marked by the half-buried remains of the Eastern Temple Gate. The gate served as the eastern entrance to the compound of the Roman Temple of Jupiter,
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Hammam Nureddin
If youre a male and visit only one hammam in Damascus, make it busy, men-only Hammam Nureddin, accessed from the spice souq that runs between the Umayyad Mosque and Straight St. Founded in the mid-12th century, it is one of the grandest and oldest functioning hammams in the country
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Qala’at ibn Maan
Perched high on a hilltop to the west of the ruins is Qala’at ibn Maan, also known as the Arab Castle or citadel. From here, there are spectacular sunset views over the ruins. Though it’s possible to walk here, many travellers choose to take one of the many tours sold by hotels in
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