Jami' al-MaqamatAleppo, Syria
The Jami’ al-Maqamat was formerly known as the Mausoleum or Ribat of Qarasunqur but took on the new name at a later date because of its location in the heart of the Maqamat neighborhood, located just south of the medieval city walls through Bab al-Maqam and just west of the Madrasa al-Kamiliyya. The mosque was originally built as a funerary complex for Shams al-Din Qarasunqur I, the governor of Aleppo (d. 1309/709 AH), and included a prayer hall, tomb chambers and a public fountain (sabil). It is tentatively dated to 1303/703 AH by an inscription that appears along with a Mamluk blazon above the fountain.1
The complex is a rectangular
building centered on a large square courtyard with a rectangular sanctuary,
slightly narrower than the main complex, attached to its south end. One enters
from the north through a portal in the form of an iwan surmounted by a minaret,
much like the Ayyubid Madrasa al-Sultaniyya, constructed just decades before.
This entrance portal is flanked on either side by rectangular rooms and gives
onto a three arched portico which forms the north side of the building’s
central courtyard.
On the south side of the courtyard,
a nearly identical triple arched portico gave onto the prayer hall. The arches
of this portico were filled in at some point in the twentieth century. The
prayer hall consists of a central bay and two side bays, the central space
surmounted by dome resting on a dodecagonal base. The mihrab is located in the
central bay while two cenotaphs occupy the two side bays.
Notes:
- Herzfeld, Alep, inscr. 170.
The Jami’ al-Maqamat was formerly known as the Mausoleum or Ribat of Qarasunqur but took on the new name at a later date because of its location in the heart of the Maqamat neighborhood, located just south of the medieval city walls through Bab al-Maqam and just west of the Madrasa al-Kamiliyya. The mosque was originally built as a funerary complex for Shams al-Din Qarasunqur I, the governor of Aleppo (d. 1309/709 AH), and included a prayer hall, tomb chambers and a public fountain (sabil). It is tentatively dated to 1303/703 AH by an inscription that appears along with a Mamluk blazon above the fountain.1
The complex is a rectangular
building centered on a large square courtyard with a rectangular sanctuary,
slightly narrower than the main complex, attached to its south end. One enters
from the north through a portal in the form of an iwan surmounted by a minaret,
much like the Ayyubid Madrasa al-Sultaniyya, constructed just decades before.
This entrance portal is flanked on either side by rectangular rooms and gives
onto a three arched portico which forms the north side of the building’s
central courtyard.
On the south side of the courtyard,
a nearly identical triple arched portico gave onto the prayer hall. The arches
of this portico were filled in at some point in the twentieth century. The
prayer hall consists of a central bay and two side bays, the central space
surmounted by dome resting on a dodecagonal base. The mihrab is located in the
central bay while two cenotaphs occupy the two side bays.
Notes:
- Herzfeld, Alep, inscr. 170.