The Madrasa al-Uthmaniyya is located in the northern Bab al-Nasr district of Aleppo's old city. It was established by Ottoman governor of Aleppo 'Uthman Pasha between 1730 and 1738. Another name for the madrasa is Madrasa al-Rida'iyya.
The complex occupies an irregularly shaped parcel of land and the main entrance is off a street on the west side. The entrance leads onto a large central, rectangular courtyard oriented toward the qibla. The south side of the courtyard is occupied by a large mosque, which opens onto the court through a triple-arched portico of three domed bays. Two iwans flank this mosque to complete the southern facade of the court. The other three sides of the courtyard are lined with arcades that open onto small cells that would have been used by the students of the madrasa.
Sources:
Burns, Ross.
Monuments of Syria, 42-43. London: I.B. Tauris & Co Ltd., 1992.
Gaube, Heins and Eugin Wirth. Aleppo: Historische Und Geographische Beiträge Zur Baulichen Gestaltung, Zur Sozialen Organisation Und Zur Wirtschaftlichen Dynamik Einer Vorderasiatischen Fernhandelsmetropole, 376 (no. 282). 2 vols. Wiesbaden: Dr. Ludwig Reichert, 1984.
Sauvaget, Jean. “Inventaire Des Monuments Musulmans de La Ville d’Alep.” Revue Des Études Islamiques 5 (1931): 59–114 (no. 73).
