Tripoli - Khan Al Khayyatin     In the neighborhood of the Ezzedin baths there are two fourteenth century Mamluk khans facing each other. The Tailor’ khan which adjoins the baths on the north., built in 1341. Its street stalls and storehouses until this day house the dry goods merchants and tailors of modern Tripoli. The Tailor’ khan is a 60 yard long passageway with tall graceful arches on each side and ten transverse arches open to the sky.

At the entrance an engaged Corinthian column is built in the brown sandstone wall and may be a Crusader Church pilaster with a re-used marble capital. There are other Roman granite column sections built into the walls in the vicinity.

The Khân Al-Khayyatin or Tailors’ Khan, is one
of the oldest in Tripoli, dating to the first half of the 14th century. It was probably built on the remains of a Byzantine and Crusader monument in the center of the ancient commercial suburb which controlled passage over the Abu ‘Ali river.

Thus, this “khan” has a different plan than the others in the city. The restored structure consists of a long passageway with tall arches on each side and ten transverse arches. Just at its western entrance stands a granite column surmounted by a marble Corinthian capital.

 

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