Old Damascene Schools include the Al-Adiliyah School and the Al-Zahiriyah School. While the former dates back to 1215 AD, the latter was built in 1277 AD.
Damascus is a tourist destination with numerous man made marvels and natural wonders. The castles, palaces, splendid museums, attract tourists from all over the world. The Old Damascene Schools like Al-Adiliyah School and Al-Zahiriyah School are some of the major tourist attractions of this city.
Al-Adiliyah School:
The Al-Adiliyah School represents the Ayoubi architectural flair. The school stands out for its architectural beauty. In 1919 the school was turned into a museum. The Arabic Athenaeum, founded by Muhammad Kurd Ali was used as the library of this school after World War I. At present the Al-Adiliyah School is called the Arabic Language Academy.
The interesting fact about this school is that it was built in 1215 AD during the reign of King Sayf Eddeen, who
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was the brother of Saladin. However the construction of the school building was completed in 1221 during the ruling period of King Mouzaffar, the successor of Sayf Eddeen.
Al - Zahiriyah School:
It is one another Old Damascene School. It is a fine example of the religious schools that were built in Damascus in the Middle Age. Al-Zahiriyah was built in 1277 AD. The name of this school was derived from the name of its founder Al-Zaher Baibars. Initially it used to be a school where Quranic sciences were taught. The carvings, writings on the walls and the decoration of the school building make it unique.
Later Al-Zahiriyah was divided into a school and a library. The library is considered to be a national treasure. It has a wide range of collection including some documents, Arabic books, hand written letters and so on. There are 13,000 manuscripts in the manuscript department.
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