Madrasa al-Saffahiyya
Aleppo, Syria
The Saffahiyya Madrasa is located in the Sahat Bizza neighborhood of Aleppo, within the quarter of Saffahiyya, close by the Adiliyya Mosque. It was built in 1424-1425/828 AH at the order of the qadi Ahmad ibn Salih ibn Ahmad al-Saffah, for whom it is named.

The entrance to the madrasa is a grand muqarnas-vaulted portal faced with ablaq stonework and surmounted by a minaret. It is located in the northeastern corner of the building. Visitors pass through the portal onto a long corridor that leads onto the northeastern corner of a rectangular central courtyard. On the north side of the courtyard is a large iwan. The south side is occupied by the prayer hall. The east side is simply a wall and the west gives onto two small rooms.

The prayer hall's mihrab is made of marble and has a muqarnas hood.

Sources:

Herzfeld, Ernst. Matériaux pour un corpus inscriptionum arabicarum. Part 2: Syrie du nord. Inscriptions et monuments d’Alep, vol. 1, pt. 2, p. 368. Cairo: Institut Français d’archéologie orientale, 1954-1956.

al-Jāsir, Lamyā’. “Taṭawwur ‘imārat al-madāris al-athariyya fī madīnat Ḥalab," 294-302. Masters Thesis, Univesrity of Aleppo, 1998.

Meinecke, Michael. Die Mamlukische Architektur in Ägypten und Syrien (658/1250 Bis 923/1517), 2:323, no. 39/32. Glückstadt: J. J. Augustin, 1992.

Rihawi, Abdul Qader. Arabic Islamic Architecture in Syria, 186. Damascus: Ministry of Culture and National Heritage, 979.
Location
Aleppo, Syria
Images & Videos
Associated Names
Events
1424/827 AH
Style Periods
1250-1517
Variant Names
Madrasa al-Saffahiya
Variant
Madrasah al-Saffahiyah
Variant
Building Usages
religious