
Damascus – al-Madrasa al-Zahiriyeh
دمشق – المدرسة الظاهرية
al-Madrasa al-Zahiriyeh (المدرسة الظاهرية) is an impressive Mamluk-era religious school constructed to serve as the mausoleum of al-Zahir Rukn al-Din Baibars al-Bandaqdari (الظاهر ركن الدين بيبرس البندقداري). Baibars (بيبرس) was born in 1223 and first came to prominence as a commander of Mamluk armed forces. He was instrumental in the defeat of the Seventh Crusade of Louis IX of France and, a decade later, the …