A Damascene Jew by the name of Yousef Anbar built this beautiful mansion in the second half of the 19th century during the Ottoman Period.

The mansion was later converted into a school that became the birthplace of the Arab national movement against the Ottomans.

In the 1930s, Maktab Anbar was turned into a school for women artisans and a museum.

Currently, it is home to Damascus Old City’s local authorities.