Gallery
Description
Property Name: Suq al-Haraj
Inventory No: 961-6-25
Date of infill of the inventory form: 2009-10-27
Country (State party): Lebanon
Province: Tripoli
Town:
Geographic coordinates: 34° 26′ 14.91″ N
35° 50′ 46.4″ E
Historic Period: Mamluk
Year of Construction: unknown
Style: Mamluk
Original Use: Khan
Current Use: Commercial
Architect: Unknown
Significance
Souq al-Haraj is one of the most important commercial buildings of Tripoli, built in Mamluk period. The building has an interesting plan type. It differs from a standard khan only in being bisected by the street and in having a covered courtyard instead of the more usual open one.
Selection Criteria
iv. to be an outstanding example of a type of building, architectural or technological ensemble or landscape which illustrates (a) significant stage(s) in human history
State of Preservation
The monument was restored between 2003 and 2005, as corporation of the Lebanese Ministry of Culture, the Directorate General of Antiquities, the German Embassy, the Orient-Institut Beirut and the Municipality of Tripoli. The construction work was divided into two phases. Phase one was safeguarding the structure by treating the most important structural problems and the roofs. Restoring damages caused by the war: rebuilding the eastern section of the souq. Phase two was concentrating on the interior space of the Souq: enhancement of the facades of Souq al-Haraj, doors, windows, floors and ceilings in addition to the necessary infrastructure works.
References
Salam-Liebich, Hayat. The Architecture of the Mamluk City of Tripoli, The Aga Khan Program for Islamic Architecture at Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, 1983.
Suq Haraj Restoration Report April 2005, http://www.oidmg.org/Beirut/Projekte/Tripoli/Abbildungen/Report on Restoration Suq Haraj.PDF