Salimiyya Takiyya Explained

The Salimiyya Takiyya (Arabic: التكية السليمية|at-Takiyya as-Salīmiyya) is a takiyya (Ottoman-era Arabic name for a mosque complex which served as a Sufi convent) in as-Salihiyya, Damascus.

The complex was built over and in the surroundings of Ibn Arabi's tomb in 924/1518 by the Ottoman sultan Selim I upon his return from the conquest of Egypt.^[1] The Salimiyya Takiyya is considered to have been "the first Ottoman building in Syria".^[2] However, its construction is considered to have followed "a local architectural idiom",^[3] which was "neither Mamluk, nor Ottoman"^[4] (unlike the later Sulaymaniyya Takiyya, which marked the introduction of the Ottoman architectural style to Damascus^[5]).

The Salimiyya Takiyya consists of a mosque (Ibn Arabi Mosque) and an imaret facing it.

History

Quoting Steve Tamari:

Notes and References

1. Abd al-Qadir. Al-Rihawi. Émilie E.. Ouéchek. 1975. Les deux takiyya de Damas. Bulletin d'études orientales. 28. 224 [8].
2. Book: Tamari, Steve. Between the “golden age” and the Renaissance. Trajectories of Education in the Arab World. 2009. 41.
3. Book: Empire of Salons. Helen Pfeifer. 2022.
4. Book: Bulletin signalétique. 1978. 23. ni mamelouk, ni ottoman.
5. Book: Gérard Degeorge. 1994. Damas. 46.