This is precisely what I love most about World Heritage Sites. I jumped in shock and a chuckle rattled up from Abu Shady’s throat as he pointed out my surprise to his adoring audience. The modern building is the product of centuries of development, with its oldest parts dating to a 16th century Ottoman renovation. This Met Bulletin talks briefly about the Arabic writing featured on the lidded box. And the Umayyads replaced it with a quite exquisite – and elaborate – mosque. There must be more than enough stories in Damascus to last 1,001 nights. Hillenbrand, "Great Mosque." But stepping away from the main street, whether south into the Jewish Quarter or north into the Christian Quarter revealed trackless alleyways where the houses were dilapidated, decaying, canted crazily – and still being lived in. It is an interesting look at the design of the object, rather than just its function or symbolism. Retracing my steps back to the plaza to the west of the Umayyad Mosque (where the UNESCO plaque could be found on a wall to the south facing the Minaret of Qaitbay), I headed south into the atmospheric Souq al-Bzouriyya, the Seed or Spice Souq. in the world. The Damascus Room, on view at The Met Fifth Avenue in gallery 461, is a residential reception chamber ( qaÊ¿a) typical of the late Ottoman period in Damascus, Syria. The sexes are separated here. Flood, The Great Mosque, 1. On the middle night of the Do not try to follow the map but dare to let yourself drift through the small, narrow and winding streets of the old town and immerse yourself in the bustling life of the Souq and the Muslim, Christian and Jewish Quarter. Souq Medhat Pasha is also a main market in Damascus and was named after Medhat Pasha, the Ottoman governor of Damascus who renovated the Souq. The interior is bland and rebuilt Cite this page as: Dr. Elizabeth Macaulay-Lewis, "The Great Mosque of Damascus," in, Featured | Art that brings U.S. history to life, At-Risk Cultural Heritage Education Series. A shrine in the mosque is said to contain the head of John the Baptist. The Great Mosque was built in the context of the new Umayyad Emirate in Al-Andalus which Abd ar-Rahman I founded in 756. There is no city in the Middle East that can offer such a beautiful and authentic old town as Damascus. A short distance to the north east is the Saiyada Ruqada Mosque, full of Iranians and glittering multi-faceted mirrors. We believe art has the power to transform lives and to build understanding across cultures. See more ideas about Damascus, Syria, Damascus syria. See more ideas about Syria, Damascus syria, Damascus. 60 connections. Damascus Damascus is the capital of the Syrian Arab Republic. Damascus has a wealth of historical sites dating back to many different periods of the city's history. The facade of the entrance is fabulous. Its current population is estimated at about 1.67 million. The initial construction of the Great Mosque of Córdoba under his patronage was the crowning achievement of this formative period of Hispano-Islamic art and architecture. The Byzantines built a cathedral atop that temple. Damascus is the capital and largest city of Syria. The second of note was Maurice, an old chap I met on Sharia Bab Sharqi, the old Biblical ‘Street that is called Straight’. I met the first on the plane, somewhere over Germany. When he found I would be visiting Damascus he insisted I take his phone number. . The street called straight (referred to in the conversion of St. Paul in Acts 9:11), also known as the Via Recta, was one of the main streets of Roman Damascus, and extended for over 1500 meters. There was no ‘side’ or tension among the people I met. His father named him Anwar, meaning ‘light’ in celebration. He told me of his life and travels as an agent for KLM and recommended places to feed the body and the soul: “I usually pray in the Ananias Chapel at 7pm. The Bab Sharqi street is filled with small shops and leads to the old Christian quarter of Bab Touma (St. Thomas's Gate). Besides being a fascinating place, the people I met were so friendly. At this time, the temple of H… The Umayyad Mosque, also known as the Grand Mosque of Damascus, is one of the largest mosques in the world, and one of the oldest sites of continuous prayer since the rise of Islam. Alexander the Great marched through Syria on his way to Persia and India and while he likely passed through Damascus, it was his successors—the Ptolemies and the Selecuids—who would shape Syria. Damascus is home to many Mosques, each drawing from various periods of its history such as the Umayyad Caliphate (of which Damascus was the seat), Abbasid Caliphate, Fatimids, Ayyubids, Mamluks, Ottoman Empire and finally the modern Syrian Arab Republic. Visit mty web site for a taste of Damascus. It is safe to say that while for long periods of time I didn’t know exactly where I was I was never particularly lost. First, it was a temple built by the Romans, next it was converted to a Catholic church by the Visigoths … Today, it consists of the street of Bab Sharqi and the Souk Medhat Pasha, a covered market. my father working in the tourism field and he always telling me about the visitors from europe how they are astonished when they enter the Markets and old street.He told me that there is a church in Damascus still underground, many people visited. 1 locations, The site has I went to Syria in 1997. The main mosque must be seen for the courtyard and its mosaic facade. Damascus, Syria. According to the shop owner, it is hand made, he showed me his workshop, and I will go back and buy some of his things since finishing and design was really nice - and hand made, nor produced by a machine. While almost nothing survives archaeologically from this period, Greek became the dominant language and the culture became Hellenized (influenced by Greek culture). Beginning in 152 BC, in a city that would become the capital of the Islamic Emirate and, for a time, the most populous city in the world, a sacred edifice was erected that has fascinated the public for generations. The Great Mosque contains a number of architectural similarities to the Great Mosque of Damascus, including a hypostyle plan with large marbled courtyard surrounded by porticoes. And small statues of the Virgin Mary could be found down several of these seemingly forgotten passages. Wandered around parts of the Old City without a map, knowing the sun was in South. In Arabic, the city is called Dimashq ash-Sham, meaning land of … The Umayyad Mosque, also known as the Great Mosque of Damascus, located in the old city of Damascus, is one of the largest and oldest mosques in the world. I am a London born freelance photographer and have been living in the wonderful city of Damascus for almost two years now. The inscribed area corresponds to the Roman walls of the Old City. Flood, 2001, 250. Pin-pricks of light fell down from holes in the roof (bullet holes, I was told, left by the French air-force as they tried to quell a rebellion in the 1920s) illuminating the store-fronts and street hawkers. The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, XXVI(9), Figure 8. I was the only foreigner around for obvious reasons, which was kind of nice since everybody said "hello", offered me tea or fresh orange juice (yummie!) (01.05.07), The site has And there was a real joy in browsing the craft workshops and women’s co-operatives for gifts or for slowing the pace to buy a chicken shawarma or a glass of cool fruit juice (I tried orange, lemon, blackcurrant and mulberry on my walk). I wish to visit it one day, I feel very proud that I live in Damascus. You are welcome to join me.” And the third was Abu Shady, last of the hakawati, the professional story-tellers. In hushed voice he built the suspense and then – SLAM! The Old City of Damascus is an oriental dream and the people living there are known from a hospitality and likability. Jun 21, 2017 - Explore Joan Allen's board "SYRIA" on Pinterest. Also significant are the mosques of Damascus (706), where the site of the former Roman temple and fourth-century Byzantine church dedicated to Saint John the Baptist was transformed into the congregational mosque of the