Beit Achiqbash

Beit Achiqbash (AR: بيت أجقباش في الجديدة; Achikbache House, Maison Ajikbash) is an old Aleppine courtyard mansion built in the mid 18th Century by Qarah Ali (Karaly), a wealthy Christian merchant.[1][2]

Beit Achiqbash
Achikbache House and Courtyard in Aleppo, 2001
LocationAl-Jdayde, Aleppo, Syria
Coordinates36°12′21.79″N 37°09′23.69″E
Built1757
Architectural style(s)Ottoman
Governing bodyDirectorate-General of Antiquities and Museums
Location of Beit Achiqbash in Aleppo

Background

Beit Achiqbash is one of a number of historic buildings found in the Al-Jdayde Christian quarter of Aleppo.[3][4] It was built in 1757 CE. A Turk named Ashiqbash later bought the house after the Karaly (Qara Ali) moved to Alexandretta.[2][4]

The house is famous for its courtyard, which is extravagantly decorated in a Mamluk-Rococo style. The building was turned into a museum in 1973 and restored in the 1980s. It is well known for the fine carved ornaments that decorate its courtyard.[5] Its style is said to have been greatly influenced by Baroque decorative traditions.[6] The rooms on its eastern side were eliminated to make way for the street that now runs in front of the property.[7]

It remains the home of the Popular Traditions Museum with its collection of fine decorations of Aleppine art along with artefacts of past local lives.[8][9] The building, like much of Aleppo's old city,[10] suffered "severe" damage and looting caused by street fighting during Syria's civil war.[7][11][12]

A survey of Beit Achiqbash was completed in November 2017 by the Directorate-General of Antiquities and Museums and UNESCO to facilitate emergency consolidation of its structure.[13][14][15] Consolidation work was undertaken during 2019.

Further reading
  • Interior of Beit Ajikbash (2001)
  • Interior of Beit Ajikbash (2001)
  • Interior of Beit Ajikbash (2001)
  • Beit Ajikbash Museum of Aleppo (2010)
  • Beit Ajikbash Courtyard (2010)
  • Beit Ajikbash Iwan (2010)
  • Beit Ajikbash photograph taken during damage survey (2017)
  • Beit Ajikbash photograph taken during consolidation work (2019)

See also

References
  1. Aga Khan Documentation Center available on http://www.archnet.org/library/sites/one-site.jsp?site_id=4806 Archived 2012-09-01 at the Wayback Machine Accessed 2017-01-01.
  2. UNESCO (17 August 2016). "ASOR Cultural Heritage Initiatives (CHI): Planning for Safeguarding Heritage Sites in Syria and Iraq" (PDF). en.unesco.org. p. 21.
  3. Darke, Diana (2010-01-01). Syria. Bradt Travel Guides. ISBN 9781841623146
  4. Salle, Eusèbe de (1796-1873) Auteur du texte (1840). Pérégrinations en Orient, ou Voyage pittoresque, historique et politique en Égypte, Nubie, Syrie, Turquie, Grèce pendant les années 1837-38-39. T. 2 / par Eusèbe de Salle,... (in French). Paris. pp. 195–200.
  5. MIT Libraries special collections (1983) Aga Khan Visual Archive: Achik Bash House photographs available on http://hdl.handle.net/1721.3/75636
  6. "Aleppo : a history / Ross Burns. - Princeton University Library Catalog". pulsearch.princeton.edu. p. 250. Retrieved 2017-03-23.
  7. UNESCO [49267]. "Five years of conflict: the state of cultural heritage in the Ancient City of Aleppo; A comprehensive multi-temporal satellite imagery-based damage analysis for the Ancient City of Aleppo". unesdoc.unesco.org. pp. 96–99. Retrieved 2019-07-22.
  8. Burns, Ross (2009-06-30). Monuments of Syria: A Guide. I.B.Tauris. ISBN 9780857714893.pp.52-54
  9. "Bayt Ajikbash | Archnet". archnet.org. Retrieved 2018-02-12.
  10. Richard Spencer, Hannah Lucinda-Smith (December 22, 2016). "Struggle begins to restore glory of Aleppo". www.theaustralian.com.au. Retrieved 2017-05-20.
  11. Directorate of Antiquities and Museums of Aleppo(2016) "Photos of Damage of Traditional Art Museum, Dar Ghazaleh, and Jdaideh in old Aleppo", Available on http://www.dgam.gov.sy/index.php?d=314&id=2159 Published on 2016-12-22, Accessed 2017-01-01
  12. "Aleppo's famed Old City left 'unrecognisable' by war". Al-Monitor. Available from http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/afp/2016/12/syria-conflict-aleppo-heritage.html 2017-01-01. Retrieved 2017-01-01.
  13. Art Graphique & Patrimoine (2017-11-28), Relevé et nuage de points de Beit Ghazaleh, Alep - Syrie, retrieved 2018-02-12
  14. "Beit Ghazaleh, Alep - Syria". AGP. Archived from the original on 2018-02-13. Retrieved 2018-02-12.
  15. Art Graphique & Patrimoine (27 Apr 2018). "Beit Achiqbash - Alep, Syrie - relevé 3D et nuage de points (mission UNESCO)". www.youtube.com. Retrieved 2019-01-16.
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