Rif Dimashq
Khan al-Arus, the Bride's Khan, is a caravanserai built by Salah al-Din al-Ayyubi in 577 AH (1181–82) on the main road between Damascus and Homs, near…
Khan al-Arus, the Bride's Khan, is a caravanserai built by Salah al-Din al-Ayyubi in 577 AH (1181–82) on the main road between Damascus and Homs, near al-Qutayfa. An inscription over the entrance once named him as its builder, and the khan was also known as Khan al-Sultan in his honour. Travellers described it as beautiful and strongly built, with an iron gate and a stream running through its courtyard into a round basin. The khan is a square building of about 40 metres a side, built of large stone blocks with pointed arches, and it once had crenellations and arrow slits along its walls, a feature of Ayyubid roadside buildings. It stands beside the highway near the turning for Ma'loula, an easy stop on the drive north from Damascus.