Madrasā al-Qliǧīyyā: the Plan

 

Of the old building, the entrance, the turbā, and part of the prayer hall of the madrasā are all that remain after the destruction by the Tatars (1); of the restoration carried out in the tenth century (2), scarcely anything is left. The interior of the tomb chamber follows the pattern partly of older Syrian domes and partly of the normal turbās of Damascus: pyramidal pendentives over the square room, drum with windows, and dome. The drum has twelve windows, but every side is slightly broken; little brackets, imitating the large pendentives, produce a twenty-four-sided figure under the springing line of the dome.

1. During Tamerlane's sack of Damascus in 1401 CE. 

2. In 924 AH (1518-1519 CE) and 970 AH (1562-1563 CE). 

Ernst Herzfeld. Damascus, Studies in Architecture III. Ars Islamica XI-XII 1946 (p. 1-71).