Damascus is the oldest continuously inhabited city in the world.
It has occupied a position of importance in the fields of science,
culture, politics, art commerce, and industry from the earliest times.
It has been called al Fayha (the fragrant city), al-Sham Jollaq and
Pearl of the Orient, as the Emperor Julian named it. It was mentioned
in the Holy Qur`an as the many-columned city of Arm, whose like has
never been built in the land.
Early references to the city, such as those in the Ebla tablets,
confirm that Damaski (i.e. Damascus) during the third millennium B.C
was a city of immense economic influence. Ancient Pharaonic scripts
refer to it as Dameska . It enjoyed great prominence during the second
millennium B.C as the center of an Aramaic Kingdom under the name of
Dar-misiq (the irrigated house). The Aramites were the original
inhabitants of Damascus and their language was Syriac. Many villages
around Damascus are still known by their Aramaic names.
Damascus fell under the domination of the Greeks, the Romans, and the
Byzantine. They all left their mark on the city as visitors can still
readily observe today. In the Roman era, Damascus was first among the
ten most prominent cities. It received many privileges, especially
during the reign of the Syrian dynasty of Roman emperors. It was from
Damascus that the most talented architect of the Roman Empire came.
This was Apolodor the Damascene, who designed the celebrated Trajan
Column in Rome, and the great bridge on the River Danube. Part of the
heritage of this are the remains of the city-plan which Apolodor
designed in oblong shape according with Roman architectural style.
There is also a part of the Roman temple of Jupiter, which was erected on
the site of an older Aramaic temple (Hadad) where the Omayyad Mosque
stands today. This part of the temple is distinguished by its huge
Corinthian columns with their richly decorated capitals .
In the Byzantine era, a great number of churches and monasteries were
built, and most of them have survived to the present.
Damascus became the capital of the first Arab state at the time of the
Omayyad in 660 A.D. this marked the beginning of its golden epoch, and
for a whole century it was the center of the youthful Islamic Empire.
This reached its peak of expansion during this period, and came to
stretch from the shores of the Atlantic and the Pyrennese in the west,
to the river Indus and China in the east. The Omayyad took a genuine
interest in building up the city, organizing its souks and districts,
improving its water supply and erecting palaces and hospitals in
various parts of it.
Following the decline and fall of the Omayyad, Damascus went through a
period of neglect and deterioration. It suffered disaster and
destruction, seeing only temporary prosperity depending on whose
domination it was subjected to.
This also stands at the heart of the old City, on the
southern side of the Omayyad Mosque, and very close to it. It is an
astonishing example of a Damascene house; houses, where the simple,
almost primitive, exterior contrasts rather sharply with the beauty and
sophistication of the interior. Here one finds a sense of space, a
wealth of polychrome stone splendid marble, cascading fountains, and
fragrant flowers.
The palace was built in the mid-eighteenth century for the Governor of
Damascus. The palace now houses the Museum of Arts and Popular
Traditions.
This Great mosque stands at the heart of the Old city at the end of
Souk Hamidiea. It was built by the Omayyad Caliph al-Wakil Ibn Abdul
Malek in 705 A.D when Damascus whas the capital of the Arab Islamic
Empire.
It was constructed on the site of what has always been a place of
workship: first a temple for Hadad, the Aramean god of the ancient
Syrians three thousand years ago, then a pagan temple (the temple of
Jupiter the Damascus ) during the Roman era. It was later turned into a
church called John the Baptist when Christianity spread in the fourth
century. Following the Islamic conquest in 635 , Muslims and Christians
agreed to partition it between them, and they began to perform their
rituals side by side.
When al-Walid decided to erect an impressive mosque suited to the
“grandeur” of the Arab state whose like was never built before, nor
will ever be built after as he is reported to have said, he negotiated
with the Christian community of Damascus, and undertook to construct a
new church for them (St. John’s) and allot several pieces of land for
other churches, if they relinquished their right to their part of the
Mosque. They agreed. It took ten years and eleven million gold Dinars,
as well as a huge number of masons, artists, builders, carpenters,
marble-layers, and painters to complete. It became an architectural
model for hundreds of mosques throughout the Islamic world.
A prominent feature of it are the three minarets built in different
styles, the upper parts of which were renovated during the Ayoubite,
Mamluk, and Ottoman eras. The mosque has a large prayer hall and an
enormous courtyard. The interior walls are covered with mosaic panels,
made of colored and gilded glass, portraying scenes from nature. The
dome is greenish blue, celebrated for its magnificence. The prayer hall
contains a domed shrine venerated by both Christians and Muslims, the
tomb of St. John the Baptist.
A remarkable example of Ottoman architecture : it was built by order of
Sultan Suleiman al-Qanouni (hence the name) in 1554. It was erected on
the site of the famous palace of Zhaher Bybars , and designed by the
celebrated architect Sinan. Most striking are its two elegant minarets.
It is divided into two parts : the great Takieh which consists of a
mosque and a school, and the minor Takieh with a prayer hall and a
large patio surrounded by archways, arcades and rooms, now housing the
handicraft market.
Follows a straight line from the west (where Bab al-Nasr used to be) to
the Omayyad Mosque. It dates back to 1863, to the rule of the Ottoman
Sultan Abdul-Hamid, after whom the Souk was called. It is covered with
high iron vaulting so old that sun rays filter through it into the
darkness of the Souk. The shops here sell everything from tissues to
leather-work, from sweets and ice-cream to exquisite handmade brocades,
mosaic, and copper inlaid with silver.
Souk al-Bzourieh
Extends between souq Midhat Pasha and the Omayyad Mosque, is famous for
its quaint little fruit, medicinal herbs, and confectionery.
In the middle of this Souk stands a bath (one of the two hundred public
baths) which has been in continuous use from the twelfth century. Here,
too is the celebrated khan of As`ad Pasha built by the owner of al-Azem
palace in the mid-nineteenth, it is now being converted into a hotel.
The national Museum of Damascus is generally recognized as one of the
finest of its kind in the world.
Visitors can see artefacts of the great civilizations that emerged and
flourished in Syria.
There are thousands of statues, stamps, pieces of jewelry, weapons,
precious stones, sculpture, masks, tablets, textiles, mosaics, glass
work and earthenware, coins, and manuscripts from the ancient Syrian
kingdom of Ebla, Ugarit, Palmyra, tel Sukas, Mari, Doura Europos, Bosra,
Shahba and others. The main oriental Antiquities: the Ugarit alphabet,
gold, silver, and ivory statues, stamps, antiquities of coastal and
interior regions, the civilization of Mary.
The statue of Ornina, ivory picture panels, jewelry, gold masks, and
various weapons.
Classical, Greek and Roman Antiquities: The Palmyra civilization, Doura Europos, mosaics, the Byzantine period, and basalt sculpture.
The Arab-Islamic Section: The façade of Qasr al-Hir al-Gharbi, glass
work, ceramics, weapons, astrolabes, earthenware, coins, and
manuscripts.
Modern Arts section: Work of contemporary Syrian artists the 30’s,
paintings and sculpture.
St. Paul`s Church
Is situated behind Bab Keissan, one of the gates in the old wall
encircling Damascus.
It commemorates St. Paul, whose name was Saul of Tarsus, charged by the
Romans to persecute the Christians. As he approached the village of
Daraya, a burst of blinding light took his sight away, and he heard
Jesus Christ ask him : " Saul, why do you persecute Me?" This was a vision
of faith He was taken unconscious to Damascus, attended by Hananiya,
Christ’s disciple, and became one of the staunchest advocates of
Christianity. His Jewish peers decided to kill him, but he hid in a
house by the city wall, and at night was lowered by his disciples in a
huge basket from a slit in the wall. The church is located at the site
of his escape. He traveled to Antioch, Athens, and Rome, after a brief
stay in Jerusalem, and continued to teach the gospel until he died.
Shrine Of Saida
Zeinab
Located some 10 kilometers to the south of Damascus. The interior is
covered with decorations in silver and gold, ornate windows and lavish
chandeliers.
The shrine attracts hundreds of pilgrims daily from various countries,
who come to pay tribute to the prophets grand-daughter , the daughter
of the Imama Ali Ibn Abi Taleb.
Some 30 Kilometers from Damascus, the village is spread out over a
hilltop, and is surrounded by vineyards . It has a
famous monastery founded in 547, dedicated to the Blessed Virgin. The
name of the village itself, Seda Naya` in syriac neams “our Lady”.
The monastery contains a portrait of the Virgin believed to have been
painted by St. Luke.
This famous village is some 56 Kilometers from Damascus, and is
situated at an altiude of more than 1500 metres. Its little houses
cling to the face of an enormous rock , they look suspended in mid-air
there are two monasteries here: Saint Sergius and saint Taqla`s. the
inhabitants still speak Aramaic, the language spoken by Christ. Two
neighboring villages, Jaba`din and Naj`a , also speak the same
language. The work Ma`lula means entrance in Aramaic.
This Great mosque stands at the heart of the Old city at the end of
Souk Hamidiea. It was built by the Omayyad Caliph al-Wakil Ibn Abdul
Malek in 705 A.D when Damascus whas the capital of the Arab Islamic
Empire.
Souk al-Bzourieh
The national Museum of Damascus is generally recognized as one of the
finest of its kind in the world.
Shrine Of Saida
Zeinab
