Damascus café, Syria

The 'Kahawai' or story teller in the An-Nafura coffee house, Damascus, with traditional nargileh [water pipes] on the bubble.

Damascus:
One of the world's oldest cities - architectural evidence suggests people have been living here since at least 2500 BC - Damascus has been in the middle of the action for millennia. Conquered among others by Israel's King David, Nebuchadnezzar, Alexander the Great, Tamerlane, Assyrians, Nabataeans [who built Jordan's Petra], Greeks, Romans, Turks, Crusaders, Mongols, Egyptians, Germans and most recently the French, self-governing independence was finally achieved in 1946 after 4,000 years of warfare.
Today Damascus is a city with over six million inhabitants and plenty of concrete to house them, though most of hideous blockhouses are confined to the suburbs, leaving much of the 2 sq. kms of the Old City as ancient, labyrinthine and fascinating as it may have been a thousand years ago.

Damascus' main tourist attractions are:
- The stunning Umayyad Mosque, an Islamic masterpiece of architecture and decoration and second only to Jerusalem's Dome of the Rock. Non-Muslims are welcome to visit.
- The beautifully decorated Azem Palace and its displays of traditional 18th century scenes.
- The Souq al-Hamidiyya is one of the classic Arab markets, full of tiny alleys, unusual treasures and no shortage of haggling, but way less hassle and pressure to buy than its equivalent in, for example, Morocco's Fez or Egypt's Cairo.
- Walking the streets and viewing the old city walls and gates [especially the restored Bab al-Sharqui].
- Having a coffee and possibly a cool smoke at one of the old coffee houses such as pictured above.
- Visiting a hammam [the best is magnificent 12thC Hammam Nureddin] for steam, massage and a thorough scrubbing.
- Going inside classic old Damascus houses [of the rich!], with their internal courtyards, gardens, fountains and incredibly ornate decoration. Tourists are permitted inside some fine examples such as Beit [House] Aqqad, Beit al Sibai and Beit Nizam.
- The National Museum has some fine displays.
- The view from the top of the city's 1200m rock, Jebel Qassioun gives a good overview of the place though it's hardly stupendous and would require private transport to get there.

Eateries in Damascus serve superb, low-cost cuisine suited to both carnivores and vegetarians and some restaurants are located in fountain-playing courtyards of gorgeous, stylish old mansions with an incredibly romantic ambience and a small bill to pay as you stagger away from the table like an over-stuffed ottoman.

Night clubs and dance places are severely limited, with most evening action of the tourist-folk-show type.

Click on the image above for more Damascus Pictures.

Information: Syria Travel Guide | Syria Map | Asia Map | Tours

Other Images: Palmyra Pictures | Aleppo Pictures