The 10 Best Landmarks in Damascus

Damascus was founded between 10,000 and 8,000 BC and is credited with being the oldest continuously inhabited city and capital in the world. Given this, Damascus has sites worth seeing, some of which are ancient and some of which are modern. There is a lot to see in Damascus: mosques and churches, old and new souks... Or you can get lost in the narrow streets filled with century after century of history. If you're tired of wandering the streets, just step into an art gallery to take a look at Syria's modern art, relax in a local café while looking at the bustling street life or listen to a local storyteller. In this article, we show the ten most important tourist sites in this ancient city.

1- The Old City:

The city with its ancient walls, in particular, looks very old and consists largely of a maze of narrow alleys, interspersed with mysterious doors leading to cheerful green squares and antique houses, modernizing the interior. The Old Town still has an authentic medieval feel, although this is fading quickly due to increased tourism as the city continues to be highlighted as an attraction. However, life continues in the walled old city, which remains the religious and social center of the city.

2- Umayyad Mosque:

It is the fourth holiest site in Islam and is located in Old Damascus and is also known as the Great Mosque. It is one of the largest and oldest mosques in the world, built between 705 and 715 AD. The site of the Umayyad Mosque was originally an Aramaic temple of the rain god identified, then a Roman temple, the Temple of Jupiter, whose traces are still outside the mosque, and later became the Church of St. John the Baptist, the Prophet Yahya, peace be upon him. Inside the main hall there is a shrine that houses the head of the Prophet Yahya. Outside the mosque there is a shrine to the famous Arab sultans and commander Saladin. The Umayyad Mosque has three high minarets of different shapes and heights, each with an interesting story: the minaret of the bride, the minaret of Jesus, and the minaret of Qaitbay. The Umayyad Mosque influenced the emerging Islamic architecture, so that the Great Mosque of Cordoba in Andalusia and the Al-Azhar Mosque in Egypt were built on its model.

3- Old Markets:

The most famous of these is the Hamidiya Market, a street full of small shops, starting opposite the Umayyad Mosque, through the columns of the monuments of the Temple of Jupiter. You can find dedicated corridors for everything from leather and copper products to studded boxes and silk scarves. This street branches into other specialized markets, some with spices, some with silk products, others with fabrics and others.

4- Damascus Citadel:

Located at the end of Souk al-Hamidiya, it is a large medieval fortified palace, part of the Old City of Damascus, which was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1979. The castle is located in the northwest corner of the city walls, between Bab al-Faradis and Bab al-Jabiya. It consists of an approximately rectangular curtain wall with an area of 230 × 150 square meters. The walls were originally protected by 14 monumental towers, but today only 12 remain. The castle has doors on its northern, western and eastern sides. The current castle dates primarily from the Ayyubid period while incorporating parts of the older Seljuk fortress. Its last military use was in 1925, when French soldiers bombed the old city of the citadel in response to the Great Syrian Revolt against the French Mandate. Today, it is a centre for cultural activities, and excavation and restoration efforts are still ongoing.

5- Straight Street:

In the Greek era of Damascus, the architect and physician Hippodamus replanned the city in the form of a network of streets, the longest of which was the straight street (1500 meters), which crossed the ancient city from west to east. The western part of it is called the Midhat Pasha Market, which is not far from the western entrance to Shouq Al-Hamidiya, and it is a huge market from which other markets also branch. The eastern part is called Bab Sharqi Street because it ends at an eastern gate one of Damascus' gates. On this street, many mosques and ancient churches that date back to the dawn of Christianity and the dawn of Islam are still erected.

6- St. Ananias Church:

It is an old underground structure located at the end of a street called Straight near an eastern door. It is the home of Ananias of Damascus, where Ananias baptized Saul (who became the Apostle Paul).

7- St. Paul's Church:

It is located along Tarfa Bin Al-Abed Street near Bab Kisan. The church, which was consecrated in 1939, houses some stones from the Kisan Gate, believed to be the site of St. Paul's escape from Damascus by lowering him from the window into a basket.

8- Bimaristan Nur al-Din (Bimaristan al-Nouri):

It is a large Islamic hospital of the Middle Ages. It is located in the Hariga neighborhood of the walled Old City, to the southwest of the Umayyad Mosque. It was built in two phases: the first phase was ordered by Sultan Nur al-Din al-Zengi in 1154, and the hospital was named after him, and then an annex was added to the main building in 1242 by the doctor Badr al-Din. The hospital was renovated in 1975 and now houses the Museum of Medicine and Science in the Arab World.

9- Bone Palace:

Located north of the Bazuriyeh market in Old Damascus, it was built in 1749 as the private residence of Asaad Pasha al-Azm, governor of Damascus. During the French Mandate for Syria and Lebanon, it housed the French Institute. Having been bought by the Syrian government from the al-Azm family and undergone several reconstruction works, the palace now houses the Museum of Folk Arts and Traditions. It is home to many artistic and cultural activities.

10- Opera House:

It is a five-story building that includes a 1,300-seat musical performance theatre, a 600-seat drama theatre and a small multi-purpose auditorium. Since its opening, in 2004, it has been the venue for many theatrical performances and concerts of classical European or Arab music, as well as film screenings, such as the European Film Festival in Syria. The Damascus Opera House is also the main venue for the Syrian National Symphony Orchestra, and you can't visit Damascus without visiting it and attending an evening there.