AZEM PALAIS

After visiting this Ottoman palace for the first time, it will be returned to taste the calm and freshness of the places. It is a pity that the guides do not speak French so we would like to share with connoisseurs the wonder caused by the exhibits exposed. It took four years to complete the construction of this palace, undertaken between 1749 and 1752, according to the wishes of Assaad Pasha al-Azem, the nephew of Suleiman Pasha. Burned down in 1925, the palace will host five years later the French Archaeology Institute. He will be returned to the Azem family for independence, bought by the Syrian state and transformed into a museum in 1954. His plan is consistent with the Arab private architecture of the time, with salemlik and haremlik. It comprises 17 large rooms and 28 rooms, 9 of which are on the first floor.

The visit begins with the private part of the residence, the haremlik, whose beautiful courtyard is highlighted by various species: tamarisks, jasmines, orange and lemon, vine…

To break the monotony created by the white, black and ochre lines of the facades and the rectangular plane of the courtyard, the architect composed with a wide variety of forms: canopy, iwan, colonnes, ornements of doors and windows, size of buildings… This vast polychrome dallée courtyard, coupled with a basin and fountain, serves parts of variable size but of identical design: a part of the foot facing the gate, and a raised part of just under cm.

The interior includes painted woodwork and richly decorated ceilings. Wandering through the courtyard clockwise, left leaves the communes (not accessible) and then visits the various pieces that house the museum's collections. The Hall is one of the most richly decorated in the palace (the wall, decorated with marble, stone and wood). There are perfume vases and curious "wooden hooves" (for dressing dresses).

In the Belle-Mère room, a delivery chair is presented to us. The Pilgrimage Hall evokes the pilgrimage to Mecca, of which Damascus was one of the staging points. Photographs, a camel bearing the mahmal (a poster in which a magnificent copy of the Koran was safe), and precious examples of Koran ornamentation make this hall one of the most remarkable of the palace.

The popular coffee room features a shadow theatre, a mangale game (known as awale in Africa) and the never never.

After the iwan, you get to the little hammam, a nice example of private bath, with stripping play and the succession of rooms at growing temperature. In essence, we see the fireplace that allows heating of the bath and water. By leaving the steam bath, you can reach the reception room (the Aq'a) by a flight of stairs. The three mouqarnas consoles, ceilings, Delft porcelain and exposed furniture are particularly remarkable.

The passage to salemlik takes place in the Salle Druze. Among the beautiful pieces exposed, sumptuous costumes and traditional fabrics, some of which - in the Druze feasts, among others - are still worn. The pieces of the salemlik, arranged around a large shaded basin, date back to the reconstruction of the palace after the fire of 1925. They are dedicated to crafts: work of dinandier, leather, glass… The Azem Palace was left by the corridor which, on the street, led to salemlik.

The Al-Bazouriyé Souk starts at the exit of the Azem Palace, which connects it to the Right Street. It is then a real dive in the Along Orient, which blends herbs, spices, confiseries and famous fruits of the Irrigates in a very lively atmosphere. On the left of the street, two curiosities attract attention: Noureddin hammam and the Khan Assaad Pasha.