Murad Pasha Caravansary (Museum of Ma’arrat Al-Numan)
Registration Date: 1/4/1945
Registration no.: 207
Murad Pasha Caravansary (Ma’arra Museum) is comprised of 4 sections with cross beamed ceilings connected by arched hallways to service facilities. A mosque and a restaurant are found in the center, and a marketplace, a bathhouse, a bakery, grains storage area, and a water station that supplies the whole facility are on the west side. The caravansary was converted into a museum to preserve and display the historically significant collections of mosaics from dead cities.
The museum sustained heavy damage after being targeted with airstrikes in June 2015 and May 2016. The heaviest damage was in the bathhouse area which is part of the caravansary, and also in what is known as the fourth wing on the west side. Site monitors of the Heritage Preservation Center in conjunction with TDA-HPI conducted a physical assessment of the site and documented structural damage. They recommend urgent repairs be done since the building has already been hit twice before. They also noted severe damage due to weather erosion and heavy snow fall.
The following damage is noted:
The right/east wall of the hallway leading to the lavatories (modern) has deviated by 32cm. It has been reinforced temporarily with wood beams to stop the deviation. The stones in the wall were numbered and the exact location of the damage is indicated on topographic maps of the wall.
