Madrasa Al Qartawiyya Tripoli

Attached to the east side of the Great Mosque is Madrasa Al Qartawiyya, which was built by a Mamluk governor of the same name in the early 1300s, over the baptistery of the old cathedral. Famed for its fine workmanship, the madrasa has an elegant facade of black-and-white stone facings, topped by a honeycomb-patterned half-dome above the portal. The back wall is also made with black-and-white stone and has some beautiful Arabic inscriptions. Inside, the prayer hall is topped by Tripoli's only oval dome and has a finely decorated south-facing wall and minbar (pulpit).