Description of the site: It is considered one of the largest and most essential palaces built in the Ottoman period. Its architectural style is consistent with the architectural styles prevalent in Palestine at that time, and it is called and known locally as the Palaces of the Throne Villages.The palace was visited by Abd al-Ghani al-Nabulsi, who described it as accurate and beautiful, and the historian Ihsan al-Nimr resided in it. The palace consists of three main sections: the Great Southern Palace, the Northern Small Palace, and the palace garden in the western part, and it includes a spring for water.The planning of the Southern Palace depends on an outer yard in front of its massive gate in the palace's southern facade. To the right and left of the yard are two walls, both preceded by a long threshold designated for the palace guards to sit. The gate leads to a roofed hall bordered on both sides by two rows of stone seats reserved for the guards, representing additional protection for the palace. On the western side, other rooms were used as weapons stores and soldiers' quarters.The northern gate is preceded by an expansive open yard paved with royal stone. At its north end is an open iwan known as the summer iwan with a pool and a marble fountain. Another iwan overlooks the yard from the western side, and is in the middle of the main hall of the court; opposite it is another hall dedicated to administrative work and palace guests. The garden and orchard of the palace could be entered from the western side of the Iwan, and it is a vast garden in which fruit and citrus trees were grown, irrigated from the water spring located there.The multi rooms upper floor of the palace is connected to the open yard on its eastern side through a stone staircase. The floor consists of two suites, north and south, one for men and is called Selamlik, and another for women is called Haramlek. The small northern palace consists of two floors, which are less critical, and much smaller than the southern palace.
The palace is located in the northern part of Al-Habala neighborhood, the largest neighborhood in the Old City. It is bordered to the north by residential houses.
From the east, a road covered with intersecting stone arches, from the south a secondar...
PS-NBS
Palestinian Territories