The heritage of "khans" explored in the city of Homs: historical and architectural analysis

“Khans” (caravanserais) are unique socio-economic urban structures and significant commercial focal points that shaped the traditional markets of oriental cities. The urban distribution of these structures in the city indicates the significant role they had for the city’s structure, economy and communities. In addition, the architecture of these khans clearly reflects the level of cultural, social and economic prosperity of these urban centres.
The City of Homs is one of the key cities in Syria that, through its history, was recognised as an important trade centre, and thus accommodated a large number and diverse types of khans, that spread across the city. Unfortunately, only few of these structures exist today due to the lack of appreciation for their value as an important heritage component of the city’s history. Therefore, conserving the remaining structures (khans) is considered urgent in order to respond to the current interest in replacing them with modern commercial buildings, especially after the consequences of the Syrian conflict.
Thus, this paper develops a historical study of the khans in the City of Homs, documents their urban distribution, and analyses the architectural features of the surviving structures. The study also presents an overview of the architecture of the khans, their relationship with the city's urban development, and investigates the cultural, social, and economic characteristics of these structures to inform a set of recommendations for their preservation and revitalisation. The study uses analysis of literature, archives and historic resources as well as empirical architectural/urban analysis informed by interviews with experts and communities to frame the cultural significance and contemporary social values of the khans in the City of Homs and accordingly synthesise appropriate conservation and development strategies for these structures in their contemporary context.