House of Sitt Wasila

House of Sitt Wasila was built in 1074 AH / 1664 CE by the brothers Abd al-Haqq and Lutfi, sons of Muhammad al-Kinani. It later became associated with its final resident, Lady Wasila Khatun, from whom the house takes its present name. The residence is arranged around a central courtyard and rises through three main levels. The ground floor contains the salamlik, used for receiving male guests and holding celebrations, together with storage rooms, stables, a mill, a well and watering facilities. The first floor includes a maq’ad with a richly painted and gilded wooden ceiling and inscriptions preserving the founders’ names and construction date. Other rooms contain floral decoration and painted representations of sacred places in Mecca and Medina. The upper level contained the haramlik, women’s residential quarters and a private bath. Mashrabiyya windows provided privacy, ventilation and light. After conservation work, the building became the House of Arab Poetry and is also used for cultural events.