An Architecture Tour Highlights the Role of Women in Building Jerusalem

Jerusalem Story Team members attended a feminist architecture tour organized by Al-Quds University’s Jerusalem Studies Center in Souq al-Qattanin (the cotton merchants’ market), adjacent to al-Aqsa Mosque. Prior to the coronavirus pandemic, the center often organized tours, even extending beyond Jerusalem; however, the city’s culture and tourism sector has been hit severely since 2020. The organizers were enthusiastic to revive public interest in the city and offer a tour that sheds light on the incredible architectural achievements of different women throughout Jerusalem’s history.

Yousef Natsheh, the tour guide, a professor of history and architecture, and director of the Jerusalem Studies Center, explained that the center aims to show newcomers the Palestinian perspective on Jerusalem—“an academic perspective rather than a traditional one”1—using history, facts, and research to paint a holistic image of the city. Yousef greeted the group with a smile, saying, “I’m optimistic and always smiling, despite the occupation and the Israeli flags I see from my office window.”

To the west of the center is the Ohel Yitzhak synagogue in a previously Palestinian-owned building, and to the east is a big hole with three isles, supported by six large columns, constructed in Mamluk architecture style, which Israelis call “the hole behind our wall”2 (referring to the Western Wall). Yousef warned that names in today’s Jerusalem are never neutral; rather, they constitute a claim on identity. The title given to this hole erases the actual historical and cultural context affiliated with the place and attributes it exclusively to a Jewish religious landmark.

The tour group gathered at the center, passing through the market’s entrance where a cluster of Israeli soldiers stood, and metal roadblocks were slightly separated, hesitantly allowing for passage. The tour took place on October 12, 2025, the fifth day of the Sukkot Jewish holiday, and the group coincidentally witnessed Israeli settlers chanting and dancing outside al-Aqsa Mosque gate before swarming it under the protection of Israeli police.

The purpose of this organized tour was to learn about a few landmarks built and established by powerful women across different eras, each one of whom left her distinct imprint on cultural, spiritual, social, or economic life in Jerusalem.

In a heavily policed Old City, the feminist architecture tour commenced with Khaski Hurrem Sultan, the founder of Takiyya Khaski Sultan (a public soup kitchen), which was established about 500 years ago and has operated uninterrupted since then. Khaski Hurrem Sultan was the wife of the Ottoman Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent. The takiyya has fed the needy and wealthy alike as locals consider its food a blessing and a delicacy; today, it feeds about 200 families a day, five days a week, and even more during the holy month of Ramadan.

In the courtyard of al-‘Imara al-Amira (the building containing the soup kitchen), in front of it was the Islamic Orphanage School (Dar al-Aytam) and to the left, down the stairs, were children and adults waiting for the soup of the day. The courtyard constituted a community space where children engaged in group activities and adults socialized. The kitchen employees greeted Yousef as family, and he shared his childhood memories of Takiyya Khaski Sultan, as well as his deep attachment to the place to which he eventually returned by making it the topic of his doctoral degree in 16th-century Ottoman Islamic architecture.

Kitchen employees warmly welcomed the group and gave them a tour and a sample of fresh soup. When asked what today’s soup is called, a frequent visitor of the takiyya said, “This is takiyya soup.”3 A name sufficed to explain the takiyya’s role in the community. The distinct flavor alone evoked a smile and fond childhood memories of the place.

The next stop of the tour was the Palace of Lady Tunshuq (al-Sitt Tunshuq al-Muzaffariyya), which she built more than 600 years ago in Mamluk architecture style. The palace and the Takiyya Khaski Sultan are adjacent to each other; the buildings are distinguished only by a vertical line separating the different building stones.

The narrow Old City pathways limit the ability to enjoy the palace’s architecture all at once, but the three doorways on the northern facade of the palace are visible, beautifully decorated with marble work and stone stalactites—characteristic of Mamluk architecture. The palace and Takiyya Khaski Sultan were merged when Khaski Sultan constructed her complex. Today, the complexes join efforts in hosting the Islamic Orphanage School.

Continuing the walk, the group moved toward another remarkable architectural contribution, the intersection of three notable markets: Souq al-Lahhamin, al-‘Attarin, and al-Khawajat (the markets of butchers, spices, and goldsmiths). The markets are roofed narrow alleys running parallel with each other, and their intersections form a meeting point of different atmospheres making this area a lively hub in the Old City.

The architectural design by the Crusader Princess Melisende of Jerusalem was intended for developing and regulating the economic sector of Jerusalem. She achieved this by dividing the large market into three smaller ones to designate a space for each trade, to maintain physical separation from blood and animal waste for hygienic purposes, and out of respect for nearby holy sites, to better regulate and surveil the movement of merchandise and people, and to facilitate the collection of taxes.4 Melisende notably tried to merge Western and Eastern architectural styles in her endeavors and was a patronage of culture and civic architecture.

The final stop on the tour was the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, constructed in the fourth century by Saint Helena and her son, Emperor Constantine. Similarly to Princess Melisende, Saint Helena is often deprived of credit for her architectural contributions, which are instead attributed entirely to her son. The Church of the Holy Sepulchre contains the tomb of Jesus Christ, making it the holiest Christian site in Jerusalem and thus receives thousands of visitors and pilgrims annually.

The few landmarks highlighted on the tour are merely a sample of how Jerusalem’s women have advanced the city. Long after the death of the four women, each of their buildings continues to generously build up the Jerusalem community in one way or another. Every place was constructed with continuity and longevity in mind and is living proof of the centrality of Jerusalem and of the undeniable presence of deep-rooted communities that preceded even the oldest landmarks in the city.