Beit Junblatt () is a historic mansion that resides in

Aleppo Aleppo is a city in Syria, which serves as the capital of the Aleppo Governorate, the most populous Governorates of Syria, governorate of Syria. With an estimated population of 2,098,000 residents it is Syria's largest city by urban area, and ...

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

, built in the 16th century by a

Kurdish Kurdish may refer to: *Kurds or Kurdish people *Kurdish language ** Northern Kurdish (Kurmanji) **Central Kurdish (Sorani) **Southern Kurdish ** Laki Kurdish *Kurdish alphabets *Kurdistan, the land of the Kurdish people which includes: **Southern ...

emir of the Janbulad family.

Background

Beit Junblatt (); originally Janpolad Palace (), is a historic mansion in

, built during the 2nd half of the 16th century by a

emir of the Janbulad family, Janbulad ibn Qasim. In 1604–1605, it briefly served as a residence for the Ottoman

wāli ''Wāli'', ''Wā'lī'' or ''vali'' (from ''Wālī'') is an administrative title that was used in the Muslim world (including the Rashidun, Umayyad and Abbasid caliphates and the Ottoman Empire) to designate governors of administrative divis ...

of Aleppo Hussein Pasha Janpolad. The mansion is located at al-Bandarah area of al-Farafira district, within the walls of the

Ancient City of Aleppo The Ancient City of Aleppo () is the historic city centre of Aleppo, Syria. Prior to the Syrian Civil War, many districts of the ancient city remained essentially unchanged since they were initially constructed between the 11th and 16th centuries. ...

. According to the Aleppine historian

sheikh Sheikh ( , , , , ''shuyūkh'' ) is an honorific title in the Arabic language, literally meaning "elder (administrative title), elder". It commonly designates a tribal chief or a Muslim ulama, scholar. Though this title generally refers to me ...

''Kamel al-Ghazzi'', emir Janpolad spent 1,000 Ottoman gold lira to build the palace. Since 1766, the palace became the property of al-Kawakibi family. In 1814, it then served as the residence of the

mufti A mufti (; , ) is an Islamic jurist qualified to issue a nonbinding opinion ('' fatwa'') on a point of Islamic law (''sharia''). The act of issuing fatwas is called ''iftāʾ''. Muftis and their ''fatāwa'' have played an important role thro ...

of Aleppo sheikh Hasan Afandi al-Kawakibi. Beit Junblatt is believed to have the largest

iwan An iwan (, , also as ''ivan'' or ''ivān''/''īvān'', , ) is a rectangular hall or space, usually vaulted, walled on three sides, with one end entirely open. The formal gateway to the iwan is called , a Persian term for a portal projecting ...

in Aleppo, decorated with fine

qashani ''Qashani'' or ''Kashani'' is a Persian decorative art which had been popular in Iran in the 16th to 18th century, and then moved to Turkey in the time of the Ottomans with the transfer of many Persians artists to Turkey, becoming the basis for d ...

ceramic-tiled mosaic wall, depicting several

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

-type inscriptions. Like the vast majority of

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

traditional houses, the square-shaped

courtyard A courtyard or court is a circumscribed area, often surrounded by a building or complex, that is open to the sky. Courtyards are common elements in both Western and Eastern building patterns and have been used by both ancient and contemporary a ...

of the palace has a large water fountain in the centre mainly used for

wudu ''Wuduʾ'' ( ) is the Islamic procedure for cleansing parts of the body, a type of ritual purification, or ablution. The steps of wudu are washing the hands, rinsing the mouth and nose, washing the face, then the forearms, then wiping the head, ...

. It has been described as one of the most beautiful palaces built in the city. However, many associated external buildings around the palace—including a military barrack and stables—were said to have been ruined during the 1960s. It was subsequently restored by the Kuwait-Syria-Arab Fund to serve as a

cultural center A cultural center or cultural centre is an organization, building or complex that promotes culture and arts. Cultural centers can be neighborhood community arts organizations, private facilities, government-sponsored, or activist-run. Africa * ...

and library.

War damage

Beit Junblatt (Dar Janpolad) suffered material damage from fighting and

looting Looting is the act of stealing, or the taking of goods by force, typically in the midst of a military, political, or other social crisis, such as war, natural disasters (where law and civil enforcement are temporarily ineffective), or rioting. ...

during the

Battle of Aleppo (2012–2016) {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Battle of Aleppo{{lang, ar, مَعْرَكَةُ حَلَبَ , partof = the Syrian civil war , image = , caption = Clockwise from top-left: A destroyed tank ...

. Numerous

tiles Tiles are usually thin, square or rectangular coverings manufactured from hard-wearing material such as ceramic, stone, metal, baked clay, or even glass. They are generally fixed in place in an array to cover roofs, floors, walls, edges, or ot ...

were removed from the building's

allegedly to be shown as samples to international antiquities dealers. Similar tiles were sold at a Western auction house in 2015.

Gallery

File:Beit Junblatt Aleppo 2001 01.jpg, Beit Junblatt Iwan (2001) File:Beit Junblatt Aleppo 2001 02.jpg, Beit Junblatt (2001) File:Beit Junblatt Aleppo 2001 05.jpg, Beit Junblatt (2001) File:Beit Junblatt Aleppo 2001 03.jpg, Beit Junblatt (2001) File:Beit Junblatt Aleppo 2001 04.jpg, Beit Junblatt (2001) File:Looting Janpolad Palace قصر جان بولاد Beit Junblatt Aleppo 2018 02.jpg, Beit Junblatt (2018) missing decorative elements File:Janpolad Palace قصر جان بولاد Beit Junblatt Aleppo 2018 01.jpg, Beit Junblatt Iwan (2018) Aleppo

References

External links

* *Stoc
images folder of Beit Jamblatt
decorated with coloured and patterned tiles (2008) *Image of th
Iwan of Beit Jumblat
in black and white
No Strike List for Aleppo

Heritage for Peace
{{coord, 36, 12, 13, N, 37, 09, 31, E, display=title Buildings and structures in Aleppo Museums in Syria Palaces in Syria Houses completed in the 16th century Ottoman palaces Architecture in Syria