CyArk
When we think of the typical pit stop along the road, we rarely think of beauty. The Khan As'ad Pasha in Damascus, Syria is the exception. The khan of Damascus was built along commercial roads to accommodate tired salesmen after a long day of travel and work.
These roadside inns were built in 1752 under Governor As'ad Pasha al-Azem during Ottoman rule.
The khan can be spotted easily thanks to their design with a main courtyard right in the center of the building and their strategic location right in the middle of the market areas along the Suq al-Buzuriyyah.
The set up was similar to many modern-day storefronts with the first floor dedicated to a courtyard full of shops and storage for goods and the second floor used as accommodation for the merchants.
By the twentieth century the Khan As’ad Pasha no longer functioned as a haven for traveling merchants and in 1980, the Department of Museums and Antiquities used it as a manufacturing and storage space.
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