The third part of our Day 2 agenda was exploring the Old Walled City of Dimashq. We decided to walk from the Bab al-Saghir to the Old City. Amid the sunny pleasant weather, we went and passed through few old antique buildings along the Badawi Street before we arrived and stopped at Souk Hariqah. At this 70 meters long souk, we spent around 15 minutes rest and Nana grabbed 2 pieces of sheep fur.
We then continued our walk to the Old City and entered Souk Midhat Pasha aka Souk at Tawil literally means long through one of the seven gates – Bab al Jabieyh.
Souk at-Taweel that forms the eastern half of the street called Straight, is parallel to Souk al-Hamidiyeh and runs from Bab Sharqi to Bab al-Jabieh. It was built in 1878 by the Ottoman governor of Damascus, Midhat Pasha. Hence, its name.
Many smaller souks branch out of Medhat Pasha including al-Buzuriyah Souq and al-Harir Souq. There are many interesting sites are located along the street and the most vestige, is the Arabic style house known as Maktab Anbar.
The Old walled City of Damascus is surrounded by ramparts on the northern and eastern sides and part of the southern side. There are seven extant city gates, the oldest of which dates back to the Roman period. There are: Bab al-Saghir – the Small Gate; Bab al-Faradis - "the gate of the orchards", or "of the paradise"; Bab as-Salam - "the gate of Safety", all on the north boundary of the Old City; Bab Touma - "Thomas's Gate" in the north-east corner, leading into the Christian quarter of the same name, Bab Sharqi -"eastern gate" in the east wall, the only one to retain its Roman plan Bab Kisan in the south-east; and Bab al-Jabieyh at the entrance to Souk Midhat Pasha, in the south-west.
10 meters after you exit the Souk at-Taweel, one could see the leaning house of Dimashq (in the above photo), is one of the unique feature along the Straight street.
The section between the Bab as-Salam and Bab Touma is the best preserved part of the wall. On the way to Bab Touma, we stopped at a place called locally Kanisah Mirimiyah - a Greek Orthodox Patriarch with a minaret for the Muslim Prayer call. This place lead us to the Christian community area.
Established between 10,000 to 8,000BC, Damascus is credited with being the oldest, continuously inhabited city in the world. The old-walled city, in particular, feels very ancient and largely consists of a maze of narrow alleys, punctuated by enigmatic doors that lead into pleasing, verdant courtyards and blank-faced houses. The cleanliness was remarkably commendable and the people that we met were very friendly and pleasant. The Agenor Hotel (above photo) for instance; we went in and aksed the charming Receptionist for a brief tour. She allowed us in and we met the Manager, who had been to Malaysia, showed us around. He directed his staff to bring us to one of its boutique room. Amazing indeed!
The old city still has an authentic medieval feel to it, although this is vanishing fast due to the increasing tourist traffic as the city continues to be highlighted as an attraction. Life however, goes on in the old-walled city, which is still the religious and social center of the city.
Finally we arrived at Bab Touma and stopped there for 15 minutes, reenergized ourselves with the local fruit juices and slush. Blooming flowers and fresh greeneries cheered us up. There were many old folks stretching their legs and sitting wondering around what will be their future like. What else they would do anyway? Bab Touma, according to Amir, was the gate where Khalid Ibn Walid entered the City, killed a priest and eventually conquered Dimashq in September or August 635 CE. Now, the Bab Touma garden is also a meeting place for many foreigners – backpackers and visitors.
In the interest of time and to spare our energy, we took two taxis and dropped in front of Souk Harami. We continued our walk through Bab Faraj to the North-west of the Old City.
From the hustle and bustle of the Bab Faraj – well known for all hardware items, we went through the gloomy back lane, which I called Bab al Gelap or the Gate of Darkness! It was really dark with no street lighting and scarcely commuted by people. However, that was the best short-cut to Umayyad Masjid or Souk Hamidi. Along the way, as we were approaching the light of the Umawi Masjid, we passed through an old Hammam, Old Madrasah & Library, Aqueduct and other antiques. All these had enlighten our mind frame and broaden our knowledge.
The third part of our Day 2 agenda was exploring the Old Walled City of Dimashq. We decided to walk from the Bab al-Saghir to the Old City. Amid the sunny pleasant weather, we went and passed through few old antique buildings along the Badawi Street before we arrived and stopped at Souk Hariqah. At this 70 meters long souk, we spent around 15 minutes rest and Nana grabbed 2 pieces of sheep fur.
We then continued our walk to the Old City and entered Souk Midhat Pasha aka Souk at Tawil literally means long through one of the seven gates – Bab al Jabieyh.
Souk at-Taweel that forms the eastern half of the street called Straight, is parallel to Souk al-Hamidiyeh and runs from Bab Sharqi to Bab al-Jabieh. It was built in 1878 by the Ottoman governor of Damascus, Midhat Pasha. Hence, its name.
Many smaller souks branch out of Medhat Pasha including al-Buzuriyah Souq and al-Harir Souq. There are many interesting sites are located along the street and the most vestige, is the Arabic style house known as Maktab Anbar.
The Old walled City of Damascus is surrounded by ramparts on the northern and eastern sides and part of the southern side. There are seven extant city gates, the oldest of which dates back to the Roman period. There are: Bab al-Saghir – the Small Gate; Bab al-Faradis - "the gate of the orchards", or "of the paradise"; Bab as-Salam - "the gate of Safety", all on the north boundary of the Old City; Bab Touma - "Thomas's Gate" in the north-east corner, leading into the Christian quarter of the same name, Bab Sharqi -"eastern gate" in the east wall, the only one to retain its Roman plan Bab Kisan in the south-east; and Bab al-Jabieyh at the entrance to Souk Midhat Pasha, in the south-west.
10 meters after you exit the Souk at-Taweel, one could see the leaning house of Dimashq (in the above photo), is one of the unique feature along the Straight street.
The section between the Bab as-Salam and Bab Touma is the best preserved part of the wall. On the way to Bab Touma, we stopped at a place called locally Kanisah Mirimiyah - a Greek Orthodox Patriarch with a minaret for the Muslim Prayer call. This place lead us to the Christian community area.
Established between 10,000 to 8,000BC, Damascus is credited with being the oldest, continuously inhabited city in the world. The old-walled city, in particular, feels very ancient and largely consists of a maze of narrow alleys, punctuated by enigmatic doors that lead into pleasing, verdant courtyards and blank-faced houses. The cleanliness was remarkably commendable and the people that we met were very friendly and pleasant. The Agenor Hotel (above photo) for instance; we went in and aksed the charming Receptionist for a brief tour. She allowed us in and we met the Manager, who had been to Malaysia, showed us around. He directed his staff to bring us to one of its boutique room. Amazing indeed!
The old city still has an authentic medieval feel to it, although this is vanishing fast due to the increasing tourist traffic as the city continues to be highlighted as an attraction. Life however, goes on in the old-walled city, which is still the religious and social center of the city.
Finally we arrived at Bab Touma and stopped there for 15 minutes, reenergized ourselves with the local fruit juices and slush. Blooming flowers and fresh greeneries cheered us up. There were many old folks stretching their legs and sitting wondering around what will be their future like. What else they would do anyway? Bab Touma, according to Amir, was the gate where Khalid Ibn Walid entered the City, killed a priest and eventually conquered Dimashq in September or August 635 CE. Now, the Bab Touma garden is also a meeting place for many foreigners – backpackers and visitors. 
In the interest of time and to spare our energy, we took two taxis and dropped in front of Souk Harami. We continued our walk through Bab Faraj to the North-west of the Old City.
From the hustle and bustle of the Bab Faraj – well known for all hardware items, we went through the gloomy back lane, which I called Bab al Gelap or the Gate of Darkness! It was really dark with no street lighting and scarcely commuted by people. However, that was the best short-cut to Umayyad Masjid or Souk Hamidi. Along the way, as we were approaching the light of the Umawi Masjid, we passed through an old Hammam, Old Madrasah & Library, Aqueduct and other antiques. All these had enlighten our mind frame and broaden our knowledge.
0 comments:
Post a Comment