Syrian Arab News Agency S A N A
Damascus ,SANA- When we mention Damascus city, our imagination immediately turns towards the old city with its alleys, houses, buildings, and beautiful historical and heritage architectural landmarks.
This city epitomizes multiple civilizations and cultures, telling us in every corner a story, reflecting the human creativity that still shines in its its landmarks.
Old Damascus, the oldest inhabited capital in history, is distinguished by the fact that it offers its visitors a magical journey through history in an atmosphere of calm and tranquility next to its ancient walls, intertwined alleys, quiet narrow neighborhoods, historical landmarks, heritage markets, creating a unique scene that we rarely see in a city.
The Director of the Old City of Damascus, Engineer Muhammad Rashad Daabal, tells us about a comprehensive tour of this city, during which the visitor can get a complete idea about the city Within a tourist path that embraces living evidence of the many stages that Damascus went through, starting from the Aramaic era, through the Greek and Roman eras, and up to the present day. This path connects the east of the city with its west.
According to Eng. Daabal, during this tour, the visitor can keep in his memory enchanting images and unforgettable moments, including: Khalid Al-Azm Palace, Damascus Citadel, Al-Nuri Hospital (Museum of Medicine and Science among the Arabs), Saladin Al-Ayyubi Shrine, Al-Jaqmaqiya School (Museum of Arabic Calligraphy), Al-Adiliyya Al-Kubra School, Al-Zahiriya School, Al-Malik Al-Zahir Bath, Khan Al-Harir, Abdullah Pasha Al-Azm School Nur Al-Din Al-Shaheed Bath, Khan Asaad Pasha Al-Azm, Straight Street, Khan Suleiman Pasha, Beit Saba’i, Beit Al-Quwatli, Beit Nizam, Muktab Anbar, and the Ayyubid Tower (Seljuk).
Engineer Daabal added that a visitor to the old city of Damascus can pass by the most important landmarks and sites that belong to the Christian and Islamic religions. The city includes the Church of Saint Hanania, the Mariamite Church, Bab Kisan (Church of Saint Paul), the Church of Olives, the Church of Saint Sarkis, the Evangelical Church, the Maronite Church, the Armenian Church, the Franciscan Church (Latin), the Chaldean Church, the Cathedral of Saint George, and the shrine of Saint George. As for the Islamic religion, those who wish to visit the Umayyad Mosque, the shrine of Salah al-Din, the shrine and mosque of Sayyida Ruqayya, the Great Nouriyya School (Mosque of Nour al-Din al-Shaheed), the Fathi Mosque, the Omariyya Minaret (the White Minaret), the Safarjalani Mosque, the Shahm Minaret, Hisham Mosque, the Qala’i Minaret, Sinan Pasha Mosque, the Darwishiya Mosque, the House of the Prophet’s Hadith, and the Buzuriyah Mosque.
organized city design of the city in that age shows the important streets, squares, temples, gates, and all the remains of the Roman, Greek, and Byzantine eras, which include Bab Touma, Bab al-Faradis, Beit al-Quwatli, the western entrance to the Temple of Jupiter, the northern square of the Umayyad Mosque, the Tailors’ Market, the Madhat Pasha Market (“the Straight Street”), Khan al-Dikka, the Roman Arch of Victory, and Bab Sharqi.
We mention here the rest of the gates of Damascus on the perimeter of its historical wall: Bab Kisan, Bab al-Saghir, and Bab al-Jabiyah from the era, and Bab al-Salam
The visitor experiences the pleasure of shopping in the old markets of Damascus, which are traditional covered markets that include all the historical markets that Damascus has known, and they paid attention to the fine details of human needs, achieving an important diversity in their different specialties, which are the Saroujiya, Hamidiyya, Asrouniyya, Al-Maskiyya, Al-Hareer, Khan Al-Jumrok, Al-Qishani Bath, Al-Qalbakjiya, Al-Silah Market, Al-Sagha Market (the craft of Al-Qabqibi), Al-Buzuriya, Al-Saqaleen Market (the paper market), and Madhat Pasha Market, which includes the “wool – cotton – bale” markets, the tailors’ market, the women’s market, and the dyers’ market, according to Engineer Daabal.
The visitor can also wander around the traditional open markets, which are relatively newer markets, and are located on the eastern side of the old city, such as Bab Touma Market, Al-Qaymariyah Market, Al-Nawfara District, Al-Qabaqbiyah Market, Madhat Pasha Market, and Bab Sharqi Market.
Engineer Daabal continues: When visiting Old Damascus, the visitor can also see some of the traditional crafts that continue to this day, and their locations, and observe the craftsman working in some rare crafts “such as inlaying silver on copper, making wooden spoons, inlaying with copper and tents, making leather shoes, making mats and rugs, inlaying with mother-of-pearl, engraving on wood, making and inlaying dice and dice tables, inlaying wooden boxes with tin, goldsmithing, making swords, engraving on glass, embroidering Arabic calligraphy on cloth, making wooden household tools, making knives, making clogs, weaving brocade and damask, and making leather belts.”
The beauty of Old Damascus lies throughout time behind a certain corner that the visitor must step into and head towards, and stay in it for as long as possible, and fill his memory with the most beautiful moments scented with the scent of Damascene jasmine and orange that will settle in it for a long time, and as he said about it: The great poet, son of old Damascus, Nizar Qabbani: “Do you know what it means for a person to live in a perfume bottle?
Fedaa Hourani/ Translated by Latifa Moammar
