Site and Exterior of the Building
[Picture source: © 1993 Anette Gangler] [Picture source: © 1993 Anette Gangler] The Khānaqāh is situated in the quarter of al-Farāfira north of the citadel, east of the historical north-south market street of Suwayqat ʿAlī and south of the modern thoroughfare of al-Mutanabbī Street (Shāriʿ as-Sijn). Its façade extends along an east-west alley, while the other sides of the complex are contiguous with adjacent buildings. The site measures approximately 30 x 22 m. The western part of this plot is occupied by the principal part of the complex, arranged around the main courtyard, while the eastern half consisted of rooms grouped around the minor courtyard. Another part to the north-east was probably destroyed before the 20th century and built up during building or renovation of adjacent houses.
The portal is set back in a niche in the left part of the street façade, which is otherwise plain and only partly preserved. The niche is closed with muqarnas cells in two rows and a hemispherical hood above; the latter is adorned with incised lines forming a star pattern with a six-pointed star at its centre. This form of portal, with muqarnas carved in stone, was typical of the master builders of Ayyubid Aleppo. The muqarnas portal was an architectural form that first appeared in Syria during the mid-12th century in Damascus, an adaptation of forms that were current in Iran and Iraq in brick and stucco. In Aleppo, it was then transferred to stone architecture. The first example in Aleppo was the portal of the Madrasa of Shadhbakht (589/1193), followed by the Mashhad al-Ḥusayn (592/1195-96) and the Mashhad al-Muḥassin (594/1197-98).[1] Also, the portal of the Ayyubid palace on the citadel is decorated with muqarnas, along with interlaced star patterns and ablaq masonry. A rich example of a muqarnas portal can be seen in the Madrasat al-Firdaus, also founded by Ḍayfa Khātun and built during the years 633-39/1235-41. The portal of the Khānaqāh bil-Farāfira is a rather small example. It is interesting to see that the cells and brackets of the muqarnas were not minimized to match the dimensions of the portal, but were executed in a similar size as on larger portals, but with a reduction in their numbers. One of the reasons for the unvaried size can be seen in the standardized height of the masonry courses, to which the height of the muqarnas rows correspond.
