Hammam Jadid

In the years that followed efforts were renewed by the authorities to gain the goodwill of the inhabitants of Tripoli. Thus Asad Pasha al-Azm of Damascus could think of nothing better than to present Tripoli with a fashionable and luxurious public bath. Built at the south entrance of the city this magnificent structure has been called Hammam al-Jadid, the “New Bath” because it only dates since 1740 and is relatively new in comparison to the fourteenth century hammams built by Mamluk governors of Tripoli.’ The elegant tall building has an arched entrance way with a zigzag and fleur de-lys sculptured relief inspired by earlier Crusader and Mamluk motifs . The alternating black and white marble stones of the entrance reflect the marble mosaic pattern so characteristic of the Mamluks. It is obvious that Asad Pasha al -Azm took great pains to make his hammam an elaborate affair. Above the commemorative inscription set over the entrance is a stalactite cornice and a half-dome ceiling. A fourteen link chain in two loops, caned out of a single stone block, is suspended under the top of the arch to further enhance the hammam’s main portal.. Within there is a large principal hail with a domed roof, as well as a series of domed rooms with glass roundels arranged in patterns through which the light filters.

In a further attempt to please the inhabitants of the city Asad Pasha al-Azm gave Tripoli a mosque. This structure has a black and white stone decorated portal, within is an old stone paved courtyard surrounded by crumbling walls. At its west end rises the mosque’s minaret, broken off halfway up. It is said to have been struck by lightning sometime during the late eighteenth century and has never been repaired. Its only surviving decorative element is a palm-leaf motif cornice above the minaret’s door