Qaṣr al-ʿAẓm

 

Located to the south of the ʾUmayyād Mosque, al-ʿAẓm Palace was erected on the space formerly occupied by Dār aḏ-Ḏahab (the House of Gold), the mansion built in the first half of the 14th century by Tengiz, the Mameluke governor of Damascus. The area is thought to roughly correspond to that of al-H̱aḍrāʾ, the princely residence of the founder of the ʾUmayyād dynasty in the 7th century C.E., and—prior to that—the palace of Damascus' Byzantine governor.

The construction of Qaṣr al-ʿAẓm started in 1749 and lasted for more than two years. ʾAsʿad Pāšā al-ʿAẓm, then governor of Damascus, was subsequently deposed and strangled at the order of the Ottoman sultan in 1758, and his possessions were confiscated. The fortunes of the al-ʿAẓm dynasty, however, were to recover a few short years later. The palace was to remain in the family until it was purchased by the French government from 68 descendants of ʾAsʿad Pāšā in 1922 to be converted into the French Institute of Archeology and Islamic Art.

A section of the palace was chosen to host the French High Commissioner during his visits to Damascus. Under the impression that General Sarail had arrived, an angry mob attacked the place in October 1925. The rebels burnt the edifice, looted its furniture, and destroyed priceless collections of old photographs of Damascus, Aleppo, Hama, etc.

ʾAsʿad Pāšā's monument was eventually restored under the supervision of the French architect and urbanist Michel Écochard, relying on photographs Maison Bonfils had taken around 1885.

Painting by George Kosinski.