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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
coloured and gilded glass, portraying scenes from nature. The
dome is greyich-blue, celebrated for its magnificence. The
prayer hall contains domed shrine venerated by both Christians
and Muslims, the tomb of St. John the Baptist.
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The Azem Palace |
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| 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, 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
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Damascus Citadel
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| The only fortress in Syria built on the
same level as the city, it does not top a hill or a
mountain like all other castles and citadels. It was
erected by the Seljuks in 1078 A.D. with masonry taken
from the city wall, and turned into a heavily-fortified
citadel surrounded by walls, towers, a moat and
trenches. Inside, they built houses, baths, mosques, and
schools; it was a city within a city. At the height of
Crusader raids and attacks, it was used as residence for
the sultans of Egypt and Syria such as Nureddin, Saladin,
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whence they supervised military
operations against the Crusaders. But al-Malek al-Adel
soon found that it was no longer adequate for defense
against contemporary weapons and siege tactics, so he
decided in 1202 to demolish and re-build it. The outcome
was an impressive modern citadel, incorporating the
latest inventions in the martial arts. It has imposing
walls and a dozen colossal turrets surrounding it; there
were three-hundred arrow slits and enormous parapets all
round. In the mid-thirteenth century, however, it was
the principal target for Tatar and Mongol attacks, and
was later neglected by the Ottomans. The moats and
trenches around it were filled up, and the souqs of
Hamidiyeh, Asrounieh, and al-Khuja were built thereon.
Recently, the latter was demolished, and the western
walls of the fortress came into full view. Extensive
repair and restoration work is underway at the moment;
when completed the citadel will become a war museum, and
a center for various cultural activities.
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St.
Paul's Church / Bab Keissan /
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situated behind Bab Keissan, one of the gates in
the old wall encircling Damscus. |
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It commemorates the memory of 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. 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.
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Saladin's Tomb and its neighbouring
Schools
The tomb is next door to the north
gate of the Omayyad Mosque. It was originally part of al-Azizieh
School built by Uthman, Saladin's son, in the twelfth century.
The whole interior is decorated with polychrome marble
mosaics.
Next to the tomb stands a typical mamluk edifice, the
Jumaqjieh School, built in the twelfth century. The interior
is decorated with inscriptions and beautiful lettering. It is
one of the most splendid old schools in Damascus; and has
recently been turned into a Museum of Arabic Calligraphy.
Two other schools stand nearby: al-Zhahiriya, which
is an Ayoubite edifice and house the famous library of that
name; and al-Adliya, which is also Ayoubite in style, and is
now headquarters of the Arab language Academy.
Bimaristan al- Noury
To the south of Souq
al-Hamidiyeh, this was built by Nureddin in the twelfth
century as a hospital, and financed by ransom money to the
amount of 300,000 dinars paid by a Crusader king held captive.
During the Ottoman periood it was converted into a school for
girls, and it now houses the Museum of Arab Medicine and
Science. It contains the most exquisite examples of decorative
inscriptions used for the first time during Nureddin's reign
to replace the traditional kufi inscriptions.
The Souqs
The old covered souqs
of Damascus have a unique flavour you can savor with eyes
closed. As you walk about in the warm darkness of these
streets with their fragrant scents, spices, and colourful
merchandise spilling out of the shops onto the pavements, you
enter the strange world of exotic legend. Most prominent of
these are:
Souq al-Hamidiyeh
Souq Midhat Pasha
Souq al-Harir
Souq Al-Bzourieh
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