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Qasr Hiraql / Qasr Shams al-Muluk

قصر هرقل (شمس الملوك)

Damascus

The palace on Damascus's northern Height ascribed to Heraclius, known in al-Umari's day as Qasr Shams al-Muluk; only the jawsaq and bath survived — the jawsaq turned into a khanqah for the poor — yet it still lodged kings and pleasured the townsfolk above the Barada river, and Sultan Salah al-Din once stayed there 1.

Depth

At a glance

Region
Levant & Iraq
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In space

Damascus

Map: Natural Earth, public domain · places and route from the graph

Overview

A palace in the upper northern district of Damascus, attributed to Heraclius. In the time of Ibn Fadl Allah al-Umari it was known as the Palace of the Sun of Kings. 1

Its condition in al-Umari's time

Only the castle and the bath remained. The castle had become a hospice for the poor. 1

It was still a residence for kings and a pleasure ground for the people of the city, because it overlooks the river Barada and the valley. Sultan Salah al-Din stayed in it. 1

Connections

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Located in
Damascus

People and things also explored

the Cave of Qasyun (Jibril's Cave)· The Umayyad Mosque of Damascus· The Fitna of the Hafiz Abd al-Ghani in Damascus in 595· al-Afdal besieges Damascus and turns back· al-Adil's seizure of Damascus· al-Ghazali's arrival in Damascus as an ascetic, in 488· al-Ashraf takes Damascus· al-Aziz Uthman besieges Damascus

Sources

  1. Masalik al-absar fi mamalik al-amsar — al-Umari (1924 printing) , p. 250
Cite this page

islam.museum contributors. “Qasr Hiraql / Qasr Shams al-Muluk”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/building/qasr-shams-al-muluk/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Last updated 2026-10-16.

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Objects

Manuscripts, art, architecture and relics from collections worldwide. Related

the Cave of Qasyun (Jibril's Cave)

The mosque raised inside the cave of Mount Qasyun by Abu al-Faraj Muhammad ibn Abd Allah ibn al-Mu'allim beginning in 370, after a dream in which Jibril bade him build a mosque where God's name would be remembered — he called it Jibril's Cave; a broad prayer-hall floored in white marble, its columns all marble, never empty of the pious at remembrance.