Al-Shibaniyah Madrasa

Al-Shaybani School
Dair al-Shaybani
School / Monastery
1700 AD (Originally Monastic / Ottoman Conversion)

A Catholic monastery turned into a school and later revived as a cultural center.

Ablaq arcade, small domes, gallery hall

Founded by Italian Capuchin monks, the building was later purchased by the Aleppo Endowments and incorporated into the Ottoman Maktab (public school) system, from which it got the name Al-Shaybani. The structure has two floors and features a rectangular courtyard overlooking an ablaq (black-and-white) arcade.

The upper floor contains classrooms with arched windows, still preserved in their colonial character. After 2002, the Aleppo City Council transformed the building into the “House of Aleppo Culture”, which now hosts a permanent book exhibition and theater workshop spaces.

The wooden ceiling was restored using the “Khashkhash” technique, which combines wood with flax fibers, and lime-based mortar was injected into micro-cracks to preserve the structure.

Weekly shadow puppet performances make the school a family-friendly destination, reviving Aleppo’s legacy of multicultural and educational richness.