Buildings and Structures Inside the Walled City of Damascus

Please note that the content of this book primarily consists of articles available from Wikipedia or other free sources online. Pages: 24. Chapters: Gates of Damascus, Citadel of Damascus, Umayyad Mosque, Chapel of Saint Paul, Khan As'ad Pasha, Khan al-Harir, Al-Adiliyah Madrasa, Aqsab Mosque, Mausoleum of Saladin, Bab al-Saghir, Azm Palace, Al-Rukniyah Madrasa, Al-Zahiriyah Library, Khan Sulayman Pasha, Qubbat al-Khazna, Bab al-Jabiyah, Bab Sharqi, Temple of Jupiter, Damascus, House of Saint Ananias, Al-Mujahidiyah Madrasa, Al-Sibaiyah Madrasa, Nur al-Din Bimaristan, Bab Kisan, Al-Qilijiyah Madrasa, Bayt al-Aqqad, Maktab Anbar, Bab Tuma, Bakdash, Beit al-Mamlouka Hotel, Bab al-Faradis, Bab al-Faraj, Bab al-Salam. Excerpt: The Citadel of Damascus (Arabic:: Qala'at Dimashq) is a large medieval fortified palace and citadel in Damascus, Syria. It is part of the Ancient City of Damascus, which was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1979. The location of the current citadel was first fortified in 1076 by the Turkman warlord Atsiz bin Uvak, although it is possible but not proven that a citadel stood on this place in the Hellenistic and Roman periods. After the assassination of Atsiz bin Uvak, the project was finished by the Seljuq ruler Tutush I. The emirs of the subsequent Burid and Zengid dynasties carried out modifications and added new structures to it. During this period, the citadel and the city were besieged several times by Crusader and Muslim armies. In 1174, the citadel was captured by Saladin, the Ayyubid sultan of Egypt, who made it his residence and had the defences and residential buildings modified. Saladin's brother Al-Adil rebuilt the citadel completely between 1203 and 1216 in response to the development of the counterweight trebuchet. After his death, power struggles broke out between the other Ayyubid princes and although Damascus switched hands several times, the citadel was taken by force only once, in 1239. The citadel remained in Ayyub...