Al-Azm Palace

The English and Arabic Wikipedia date the construction to 1749, the German to 1750; according to the Arabic Wikipedia, wooden inscriptions in several halls carry the Hijri year 1163. The patron was As'ad Pasha al-Azm, Ottoman governor of Damascus, who also built the nearby Khan As'ad Pasha. The palace stands on the site of a Mamluk palace; the German Wikipedia names that of the emir Tingiz (r. 1312–1330), and the Arabic suggests this earlier building was destroyed during Timur's invasion in 1401. According to the sources, about 800 workers built it over two to three years.

After the patron's death his descendants lived in the palace; Emperor Wilhelm II of Germany visited it in 1898. The family sold the central family wing to the French Mandate authorities for 4,000 gold pounds – in 1920 according to the English Wikipedia, in 1922 according to the Arabic. During the French shelling of the old city in the Great Syrian Revolt of 1925, the main reception hall, the baths and the roofs burned and walls were destroyed. The architects Lucien Cavaro and Michel Ecochard rebuilt the structures in a simplified, less ornate form; the French Institute then used the palace.

The institute left in 1946. In 1951 the Syrian government bought the complex (for 100,000 Syrian pounds according to the English Wikipedia, 100,010 according to the Arabic) and set up the museum, which the Arabic Wikipedia says opened on 13 September 1954. From the early 1960s the family wing destroyed in 1925 was restored, partly with stones from demolished buildings of the same period. The restoration received the Aga Khan Award for Architecture (1981–1983 cycle).[1][2][3]

The complex covers about 6,400 m² and is described as an example of the traditional Damascene house. It is divided into the haremlek (family wing) with private quarters and a small-scale hammam, the selamlek (guest wing) with reception halls and a courtyard, and a wing for servants, kitchen and stores to the north. The German Wikipedia counts 16 reception halls and iwans in both sections.

Limestone, sandstone, basalt and marble were used. Archaeologist Andrew Petersen calls the alternating courses of white limestone and black basalt (ablaq) characteristic of the monumental masonry of Damascus. The wooden ceilings are painted and many rooms have marble basins. Only the entrance gate is richly decorated, not the façades.[1][2][3]

The Museum of Arts and Popular Traditions shows reconstructed scenes of daily life, costumes, musical instruments, weapons and crafts such as glass, copper and textiles. According to the Arabic Wikipedia, new exhibition halls opened in 2011, including one named after the museum's first director, Shafiq Imam. UNESCO lists the palace among the monuments that underpin the World Heritage status of the Ancient City of Damascus.[1][2][3][4]

The sources contain no recent dated statement on the building's condition; the latest documented event is the opening of new halls in 2011. In 2013 UNESCO placed Syria's World Heritage sites, including the Ancient City of Damascus, on the List of World Heritage in Danger.[3][4]