Documenting the Heart of Damascus, Syria

Madrassa al-Jaqmaqia is a former Islamic school from the Mamluk era that now houses the Museum of Arabic Calligraphy. It was documented as part of Project Anqa, a collaboration between the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS), CyArk, and Carleton University.  

Syrian heritage professionals from the Directorate General of Antiquities and Museums traveled to Lebanon to train in digital documentation so they could help preserve six cultural sites in Damascus, including the Madrasa.

The madrasa is located next to the Umayyad mosque in the heart of the old city of Damascus. It was documented with LiDAR laser scanning.

High resolution digital photographs were also taken of the structure.

The photographs and LiDAR were later aligned to create high resolution 3D models of the structures. You can view the 3D model here.