Dal tessuto urbano Ottomano alla casa tradizionale Siriana: Il Palazzo Al-Azem di Hama = From Ottoman urban fabric to the traditional Syrian house: The Al-Azem Palace in Hama

Made famous by its relation with the river Orontes, Hama has kept for a long time the immense heritage of history and architecture which characterized one of the most interesting urban realities of Syria. In such a difficult historical moment, as the one Syria is living nowadays, the narration of Hama, the fortress Hamath, a town troubled by destructions and tragic events, wants to be a hymn to the beauty of the hidden places of the Mediterranean area. Hama is the town of “norias”, huge hydraulic wheels dating back to the Seleucid period. They raised the Orontes water and directed it, through appropriate ducts, to the houses of the town and to the fields; the town is historically lived maintaining an extraordinary balance in the connection between town and nature and witnessing through its extraordinary architecture, a glorious past. Among the different influences from the past of this city, particular attention should be paid to the Ottoman period. During this phase the city, extremely rich, comes out from its historic core and entrusts to posterity its greatness exalting the solemn image of its buildings and bringing to full maturity the traditional type of "courtyard house," so that it becomes "Borghese Palace ".