قصر السقا الأثري | |
  Shown within Gaza City Show map of Gaza City Al-Saqqa House (State of Palestine) Show map of State of Palestine | |
| Location | Shuja'iyya,Old City of Gaza,Palestine |
|---|---|
| Region | Levant |
| Coordinates | 31°30′02″N34°28′05″E / 31.5006°N 34.4681°E /31.5006; 34.4681 |
| History | |
| Builder | Ahmed Al-Saqqa |
| Founded | 1661 |
| Architecture | |
| Architectural styles | Mamluk architecture |
Al-Saqqa House (orAl-Saqqa Palace) was a 17th-century house in theShuja'iyya neighborhood in the market in the eastern suburb ofGaza City. It was built in 1661, during the reign of SultanMehmed IV. It is an example ofMamluk architecture.[1] It was built by Ahmed Al-Saqqa, a merchant. His family descendedAqil ibn Abi Talib, a cousin ofMuhammad.[2]
The house was destroyed on November 10, 2023, during anairstrike carried out by theIsraeli Air Force, during theIsraeli invasion of the Gaza Strip during theGaza war.[3]
The house covered 700 square meters. It consisted of acourtyard withmarble tiles from the mountains of central Palestine andcolumns indicating the presence of awell. Its main door was two meters long. It took the form of a right angle and was darkened to preserve privacy. It included aniwan (a room for receiving guests), and living rooms in addition to the kitchen and bathroom. Majormerchants andeconomists[clarification needed] gathered there. It had a hall for events, including weddings, as it was the largest house in the area.
The house was built from Karkar stone orsandstone,Jerusalem stone from centralPalestine, andmarble from Roman stones and columns. The roof was made of sand filled withpottery, providing cooling in thesummer and warmth in thewinter.
It was the first economic forum in Palestine. It was restored after shelling during the1948 war. It was registered as an archaeological site in thePalestinian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities after the arrival of thePalestinian Authority in 1994.
In 2014, the “Iwan” Heritage Architecture Center, affiliated with theIslamic University, restored Al-Saqqa House.[4]
A seniormukhtar of the Shuja’iyah district described its origin saying, "The house belongs to a simple worker on a farm called Al-Tawabin, and he had a plot of land next to the Saeed Al-Shawa building. The narrator refers to the story from the days ofIbrahim Pasha's campaign in Palestine andSyria, which lasted ten years. One of the Pasha's guards By stealing the “capacity of gold” that was considered as salaries for his army, and after stealing it, the guard hides it in the “Al-Tawabin” farm where Al-Saqqa works. The guard is executed with the Pasha's cannon."
Al-Saqqa discovers the story and decided to build a house that matched Al-Shawa's architecture.[2]
