Khan el-Franj Saida, Lebanon
The Khan was built in the early Ottoman period, between 1540
and 1560 and was leased to French merchants looking to establish trade outposts
within Syria hence its name Khan el-Franj or the French Caravanserai. When Emir
Fakheddine II captured Sidon in the 17th century, the khan was
expanded and included a French consulate, a convent, an orphanage and a cultural
center. It is easily the largest structure in Saida’s old city and defines the
city’s views from the sea. It is accessible directly from the port, and forms
the main connecting point between the docks and the souks, which lie to its
east and south. It also borders the old city’s largest plaza, the Bab el-Saray
and connects to some of its most renowned monuments and historic mosques.
The Khan is composed of a large central courtyard lined with
rooms for the storage and trade of goods and a large hall for congregation, the
second floor houses the merchants’ sleeping quarters and rooms. The entire
complex was initially connected to the Catholic monastery to the immediate
right, but was separated as the khan was designated as a national monument in the
1960s. Historically, drapery, timber and sugar from Europe were traded with
peppers and cloves from India and silk and cotton from across Syria and
Lebanon.
The Khan was renovated into a cultural center by the Hariri
Foundation in the late 1990’s and currently houses a high-quality artisanal production
space and workshop, the Ministry of Tourism and several exhibition spaces.
The Khan was built in the early Ottoman period, between 1540
and 1560 and was leased to French merchants looking to establish trade outposts
within Syria hence its name Khan el-Franj or the French Caravanserai. When Emir
Fakheddine II captured Sidon in the 17th century, the khan was
expanded and included a French consulate, a convent, an orphanage and a cultural
center. It is easily the largest structure in Saida’s old city and defines the
city’s views from the sea. It is accessible directly from the port, and forms
the main connecting point between the docks and the souks, which lie to its
east and south. It also borders the old city’s largest plaza, the Bab el-Saray
and connects to some of its most renowned monuments and historic mosques.
The Khan is composed of a large central courtyard lined with
rooms for the storage and trade of goods and a large hall for congregation, the
second floor houses the merchants’ sleeping quarters and rooms. The entire
complex was initially connected to the Catholic monastery to the immediate
right, but was separated as the khan was designated as a national monument in the
1960s. Historically, drapery, timber and sugar from Europe were traded with
peppers and cloves from India and silk and cotton from across Syria and
Lebanon.
The Khan was renovated into a cultural center by the Hariri
Foundation in the late 1990’s and currently houses a high-quality artisanal production
space and workshop, the Ministry of Tourism and several exhibition spaces.