Publication Date
620-568/ 1223-1172
Type
Other
Language
Undetermined
Digital
Yes
Manuscript
No
Library
Museum With No Frontiers
Record ID
monument;ISL;sy;Mon01;39;ar
Library Location
Northwest of the Great Umayyad Mosque, Damascus, Syria
Date
620-568/ 1223-1172
Notes
This madrasa is considered one of the late constructions praised by Nur al-Din, and it is a wonderful example of the aesthetic taste in architecture of that period. It was established in 568 / 1172 in order to teach the Shafi’i doctrine in it, but it was not completed before the death of Hakam Nur ad-Din in 569 / 1174. Since the shepherd died without bequeathing any property to it, work on it was not completed until the period of the just King Sayf al-Din Abu Bakr in 592 / 1196, and it was named Al-Adiliyah after him, and when he died in 615 / 1218, his son, the Great King, needed to Four more years until the shrine was prepared for his father, and the endowment for the school was secured. Finally, the building was completed and its endowment was determined in the year 620/1223. The school represents one of the most important Ayyubid buildings in Damascus. It is located in the Al-Hamidiyya area, about 100 meters northwest of the Umayyad Mosque. It is located on a narrow road, and faces another school of equal importance, dating back to the Mamluk period, which is the Madrasa Al-Zahiriyya. The recessed entrance to the madrasa and the outer walls are due to the design drawn up by Nur al-Din. It is entered from the eastern side, and the entrance reaches 10 m in height. It has a hanging dome decorated with a pair of muqarnas domes with a square base hidden behind the pendant arch lock, and a three-lobed arch. A prominent frieze adorns the top of the receding entrance within the entry iwan, and revolves around the door frame. Above the door jamb, and under the foundation panel, there is a rectangular panel of interlaced stars, and a pattern of contrasting basalt and limestone stones adds more decoration to the door frame. The size of the madrasa is large and grand, with an area of 1,600 square metres, and the entrance leads through a covered hall with a cross-shaped force to a heavenly space with a central basin of a typical Ayyubid shape, that is, a square with curves at the corners. The heavenly space is bordered on the northern side to the left by an iwan covered with a clinical dome, and on the western side by a narrow iwan surrounded by four rooms for students, a corner room for religious meditation, and a long prayer hall to the right, covered with cross vaults, which can be entered through five openings. The prayer hall has a central mihrab with a small triangular niche and a muqarnas. The large domed shrine of King Al-Adil is located in the south-eastern corner of the madrasa, approximately twice as high as the walls of the inner madrasa. In order to receive passing worshipers, two pairs of windows were opened to overlook either side of the corner of the road. The architecture of the madrasa is austere, and its elegant decoration contrasts with the ornate Mamluk madrasa building facing it, although the latter was greatly inspired by the Adiliyya madrasa. Al-Adiliyah is distinguished by the mastery of its stone carving and construction, which reflects the influences of Aleppo architecture. Since it was the largest Shafi’i school in Damascus, it was the scene of visits by great scholars from all over the Islamic world, such as historians, linguists, and religious scholars, including Ibn Khaldun.
Sample Text
Abd al-Razzaq Moaz, Zena Takieddine “Al-Adiliyya School” in Discover Islamic Art. Museum Without Borders, 2026. 2026. https://islamicart.museumwnf.org/database_item.php?id=monument;ISL;sy;Mon01;39;ar
