What are some centers of learning and culture in Sirdab City that the average Sirdabi or citizen of the Caliphate might have heard of?
Some of the most significant of these would be:
Imrahid Mosque & al-Qaneb Madrasa - A very large and beautiful mosque constructed by the Imrahid dynasty of caliphs in the 2nd century ND, which also houses the tombs of many of these caliphs. As is often the case, educational facilities also sprang up around the mosque, gradually growing into the famed al-Qaneb Madrasa. Like the Elucidarium in Omrazir, the al-Qaneb offers instruction and degrees in a wide range of subjects. In the field of magic it's best known for alchemical studies.
Al-Bizel Hall - The caliphate headquarters of the Poets' and Calligraphers' Guild. It provides housing, instruction, apprenticeships, and employment for people with these skills, but the al-Bizel complex as a whole also functions as public performance and exhibition space not just for guild members but for a host of other artists and artisans.
The Darmalaak - A large museum originally begun as the personal collection of several caliphs of the Anshabar dynasty, who were known for their many personal eccentricities which included a mania for hoarding unusual objects. After the dynasty's violent overthrow ca. the latter 500s ND, this former personal palace was converted into a public museum that has been greatly expanded in the two centuries since. "Darmalaak," essentially signifying the House of the Angels, has come to be used as a generic word for a museum throughout the caliphate.
Obviously there are numerous other places of interest too, including gardens, bazaars, and a menagerie -- plus the Holy Sirdab is nearby -- but the above are some places that would immediately spring to mind when thinking of Sirdab City itself.
Regarding these bridges and canals - When were they built? What do they connect/irrigate/supply? Do these constructs (and the city overall) have any particular appearance that make them especially impressive to visitors?
The bridges and canals have been built and slowly expanded upon over much of Sirdab City's history, starting with its founding as a brand-new city in the early years of the Azadi faith (ca. the 40s BD). The caliphal palace sits on a natural but artificially expanded island in the Ennescu River, most likely in a conscious reflection of Calentium, and the island hosting the Darmalaak lies across from it.
The riverside land on which the city was built is overall very flat, so there's very little variation in topography from one part of the city to another, except where some artificial hills have been constructed from earth and rubble. This area was formerly a slower stretch of the river's flow, much like the Dragonblood Marsh to the north. The construction of the canals thus helped both to drain the marshland and spread a regular supply of water out further from the river's course, where the old riverbottom created by various shifts in the Ennescu's course are still fairly fertile.
These canals eventually feed cropland and orchards around the city (and gardens within it), but they also provide navigation through the heart of the city. Most of the smaller radial canals leading through town are shaded by awnings or arcades that also helps decrease evaporation from them. Given the numerous canals plus the river itself, bridges are plentiful throughout Sirdab City, and often incorporate shops, covered arcades, and steps down to the river where people can mingle socially, fish, or do laundry.
That said, most of the city is built on perfectly solid ground connected by perfectly ordinary streets, but in most neighborhoods there's going to be a canal somewhere not far away, whether it's used for irrigation or transportation or both.
What is the religious/cultural significance behind the Pilgrim's Path?
The Pilgrim's Path conducts the faithful to various points of significance in the life of the Prophet al-Azad, as well as his wives and companions. Many parts of it follow actual routes known to have been traversed by the Prophet. The Path also leads pilgrims to other religious sites central to the stories of the earliest prophets of the One True God and even of Kalen and Elen, who are likewise respected as revealers of divine truth (although warped and misunderstood by Kalentians, and obviously not the *complete* revelation). This is especially the case in Marzum, where places like the Garden of Inilt-esh have drawn many different religious figures over the millennia.
Would most Azadi feel compelled to walk the path at some point in their lifetime?
Azadi are only commanded to visit the Holy Sirdab at some point, if they are able. However, visiting other points along the path is considered a huge spiritual and moral benefit and many Azadi -- who often love travel anyway -- will manage to do so regardless of their means. Completing the entire Path is thought to give the pilgrim a very special and precious spiritual insight, and those who can prove to have visited all of the points along it may be referred to by the special title "the Pathfinder," or can use it as a surname of sorts.
Is there a specific end-destination for the pilgrims when they reach Nawal'ih?
Nawal'ih is renowned as the literal jumping-off point of Adwa when she fled Rahoum for Raziya -- it's told that she was waylaid by assassins here and leapt off the cliffs to escape them, placing her faith in Annur to preserve her if that should be Its will. She was said to have then been caught up by a golden cloud that conveyed her gently down to an island in the Gulf. Pilgrims, alas, do not receive this benefit, and must proceed quite carefully down a steep stairway carved out of the sheer side of the cliff. At the bottom is a tiny hamlet that keeps boats to ferry pilgrims across the coast to Raziya, following Adwa's route as best they can without the benefit of divine intervention.
The next major stop from there, and the last, is Omrazir. This makes Omrazir an important pilgrimage city in its own right, as well as the natural starting point along the Pilgrim's Path for the faithful of the western Caliphate.
