A huge and stunningly stripey caravanserai inn, hidden in the Al-Buzuriyah Souq. Enter through the massive gateway with drippy muqarnas carvings, pay for the ticket, and you can wander freely beneath the soaring pillars of the central courtyard or explore the rooms where weary merchants would have stored their products and slept. Built in 1751 and named after the Damascus governor As'ad Pasha al-Azm, in its heyday caravans and traders from Baghdad, Aleppo, Beirut and farther afield used this remarkable building as their business hotel. Earthquake damage to three of the domes was repaired in 1990 when the complex was opened for tourists; it is currently empty and awaiting a new purpose.
