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The Soap Khan ( Khan Al-Saboun ) was built at the beginning of the 17th century
by Yusuf Al-Saifi, pasha of Tripoli. This imposing rectangular structure was
built in the center of Tripoli to help the pasha control any uprising. Its
two-story high corridors surround a courtyard with a fountain.
During the battle of Anjar, which took place on Oct. 31,1622, Yusuf Pasha was
taken prisoner. When Tripoli fell to Fakhreddin, the Ottoman soldiers fled to
join his routed forces in Syria. Fakhreddin’s army occupied the barracks briefly
but in the following years the building stood empty.
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The Badr Hassoun Family continues to make olive oil-based soap as they have for
the last centuries. Some historians acknowledge, that chemists from Tripoli were
the first to process soap. Traditionally, a bride was given an assortment of
scented soap, before leaving for her husband’s house. Soap was considered a
symbol of purity. However, when this tradition began to die out, so did the soap
makers
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