Site and urban network
[Picture source: © 2010 Jürgen Rese] [Picture source: © 2010 Jürgen Rese] The Takiyya al-Mawlawiyya is situated outside Bab al-Faraj, a short distance to the west of the city walls, next to the Quwayq river and was – formerly – surrounded by gardens. This paradisiacal setting no longer pleases the observer since the transformation of the Bab al-Faraj area into the bustling hub we know today.
Dervish convents were often build outside the city walls, near a gate or on a promontory, to achieve a higher visibility. The Takiyyat ash-Shaykh Abu Bakr, on a hill to the north of the city, would be another example in Aleppo. Both buildings were important landmarks, and are thus easy to identify on the wall painting depicting Aleppo that (until it was destroyed in 1982) decorated the upper wall in the so-called ‘golden hall’ (al-qaʿa adh-dhahabiyya) in the ʿAzm Palace in Hama. The painting probably dates from the last quarter of the 18th century. The Takiyya al-Mawlawiyya occupies the larger part of the painting’s foreground, giving a good impression of the takiyya’s construction in that period.[1]
The Takiyya al-Mawlawiyya around 1780 (Knost, “Réseaux,” 265). Detail of wall painting from the ʿAzm-Palace in Hama. A photo of the whole painting was reproduced in David, Degeorge, Alep, 10. Foreign observers as well as travelers and residents, did not fail to notice the exceptional location of the two takiyyas. The French diplomat and traveler Chevalier d’Arvieux underlines in addition the isolation from the noise and agitation of the city as an advantage for a location on the edge of the build-up urban area.[2]
