| Khan Sulayman Pasha | |
|---|---|
| خان سليمان باشا | |
| Alternative names | Khan al-Hamasina |
| General information | |
| Type | Caravanserai |
| Architectural style | Ottoman |
| Location | Damascus, Syria |
| Address | Al-Buzuriyah Souq |
| Construction started | 1732 |
| Completed | 1736 |
| Technical details | |
| Floor count | 2 |
| Design and construction | |
| Client | Sulayman Pasha al-Azm |
Khan Sulayman Pasha (Arabic: خان سليمان باشا) is a large khan in the Old City of Damascus. Located in the walled city of Damascus on the eastern side of the Street Called Straight, facing Suq al-Khayyatin and Al-Buzuriyah Souq. It was built and named after Sulayman Pasha al-Azm, the governor of Damascus, in 1732-36.[1] The khan is popularly known as Khan al-Hamasina because traders from Homs used to rent its shops and warehouses.[1]
The khan is rectangular in plan and is composed of two levels of rooms overlooking a courtyard that was originally roofed with twin domes. The courtyard is twice as long as it is wide. It is framed by six arches, two along the long sides and one on the short sides, that span the two floors raised on six pillars. These arches used to support the domes, which sat on pendentives.[1]
Shops occupy the lower floor of the khan. They open onto the courtyard with arched doorways and windows, and with round windows located between two archways. The upper floor is composed of individual rooms accessed from a gallery that wraps the courtyard on four sides. The khan is built with alternating courses of limestone and basalt.[1]
The khan lost its intense activity towards the end of the nineteenth century and has since been used as a storage space and as a traditional nut-roastery factory.[1]