Ḥammām al-H̱ayyāṭīn

Al-H̱ayyāṭīn Bathhouse is located in intra-muros Damascus at the corner of Suq al-H̱ayyāṭīn and Via Recta. 

Several opinions exist concerning the date of its construction:

• According to Jean Sauvaget, the edifice goes back to the 17th century.

• Écochard and Le Cœur opted for a later date, somewhere in the 18th century.

• Weber stated that the building was registered as far back as 1737-1738 as part of the endowment of ʾIsmāʿīl Pāšā al-ʿAẓm. 

• Al-ʿUlabī believed that it was first constructed in 1552-1553 as part of the endowment of Šamsī ʾAḥmad Pāšā.

All sources agree that the building was renovated in 1881, as corroborated by an inscription located over the entrance. Murals were added to the dome in 1909 by ʾAḥmad as-Sayrawān, and historical photographs show walls with numerous such paintings. The bathhouse was described as fully operational and in very good condition in 1943, when the classical and near-comprehensive architectural study of Damascus' bathhouses by Écochard and Le Cœur was completed. By the time Weber's research was published in 2009, its function had been converted to that of a workshop, and the edifice was described as "in danger."

Michel Écochard et Claude Le Cœur. Les bains de Damas: monographies architecturales. Institut Français de Damas 1942-1943. Imprimerie Catholique, Beyrouth.
ʾAkram Ḥasan al-ʿUlabī. H̱iṭaṭ Dimašq. Dār aṭ-Ṭabbāʿ 1989.
Stefan Weber. Damascus, Ottoman Modernity and Urban Transformation. Proceedings of the Danish Institute in Damascus V 2009.