The old city of Damascus (Arabic: دِمَشْق ٱلْقَدِيمَة, romanized: Dimašq al-Qadīmah) is the historic center of Damascus, Syria. This city is one of the oldest places in the world that people have lived in without stopping. It has many places with old artifacts, such as churches and mosques. Different cultures have influenced the city, including ancient Greek, Roman, ancient Roman (Byzantine), and Islamic. In 1979, the city's historic center, which has walls built during the Roman period, was named a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. In June 2013, UNESCO added all Syrian sites to a list called World Heritage in Danger to show the risks they faced because of the Syrian civil war. Inside the old city is the large and old Umayyad Mosque, one of the largest and oldest mosques in the world.

Origins and founding

The ancient city of Damascus was located on the south bank of the Barada River and was established around the 3rd millennium B.C. The longest side of the city's oval shape is approximately 1.5 km (0.93 mi), known as Damascus Straight Street. The shortest side, called the Latin "Cardus Maximus," is about 1 km (0.62 mi). The city covered an area of roughly 86.12 hectares (212.8 acres; 0.8612 square kilometers) and was surrounded by a historic wall that was 4.5 km (2.8 mi) long. The Romans built this wall, and later, the Ayyubids and Mamluks strengthened it.

Damascus was first recorded as "Ta-ms-qu" during the 2nd millennium B.C. It was located in an Amorite region within a conflict area between the Hittites and Egyptians. The city paid taxes to these powers until the arrival of the Sea Peoples around 1200 B.C. Their attacks weakened the major rivals, allowing the Semitic Arameans to create the independent state of Aram-Damascus (11th century–733 B.C.). The city was then called "Dimashqup" or "Darmeseq."

Main sights

Damascus has many historical places from different times in its past. Because the city has been built on top of old ruins from many different groups that lived there, it is very hard to dig up all the remains that are up to 2.4 meters (8 feet) below the ground today. The Citadel of Damascus is in the northwest corner of the Old City. The Damascus Straight Street, also called the Via Recta, was the main east-west road in Roman Damascus and was more than 1,500 meters (4,900 feet) long. Today, this street includes Bab Sharqi and the Souk Medhat Pasha, a covered market. Bab Sharqi is lined with small shops and leads to the old Christian neighborhood of Bab Tuma (St. Thomas's Gate). The Medhat Pasha Souq is a major market in Damascus and was named after Midhat Pasha, an Ottoman governor who helped rebuild the market. At the end of Bab Sharqi Street is the House of Ananias, an underground chapel that was once the cellar of Ananias's home. The Umayyad Mosque, also called the Grand Mosque of Damascus, is one of the largest mosques in the world and one of the oldest places where people have prayed continuously since the start of Islam. A shrine inside the mosque is believed to hold the body of St. John the Baptist. The tomb of Saladin is located in the gardens outside the mosque. Near the Umayyad Mosque is the Sayyidah Ruqayya Mosque, which is the shrine of Ruqayya, the youngest daughter of Husayn ibn Ali. The ancient district of Amara is also close to these sites.

• Khan Jaqmaq, completed in 1420.
• Khan al-Harir, completed in 1574.
• Khan Sulayman Pasha, completed in 1736. It is named after Sulayman Pasha al-Azm.
• Khan As'ad Pasha, completed in 1752. It covers 2,500 square meters (27,000 square feet). It is located along Al-Buzuriyah Souq and was built and named after As'ad Pasha al-Azm.

• Midhat Pasha Souq, built after 64 BC. It is named after Midhat Pasha, an Ottoman governor of Syria who later became a Grand Vizier.
• Al-Buzuriyah Souq, 152 meters (499 feet) long.
• Al-Hamidiyah Souq, built between 1780 and 1884 during the rule of Sultan Abdul Hamid I. It is the largest and central market in Syria. It is located inside the old walled city of Damascus near the Citadel. The souq is about 600 meters long and 15 meters wide. It is covered by a 10-meter-tall (33 feet) metal arch.

• Temple of Jupiter, built by the Romans. It started during the rule of Augustus and was completed during the rule of Constantius II. Before that, it was a temple to Hadad-Ramman, the god of thunderstorms and rain.
• Damascus Straight Street (Latin: Via Recta), a Roman road (Decumanus Maximus) that runs east to west in the old city. It is 1,500 meters long.

• Citadel of Damascus, built between 1076–1078 and 1203–1216 by Turkmen warlord Atsiz ibn Uvaq and Al-Adil I.
• Nur al-Din Bimaristan, a large medieval hospital built and named after Zengid Sultan Nur ad-Din in 1154.
• Mausoleum of Saladin, built in 1196. It is the resting place of Saladin, a medieval Muslim Ayyubid Sultan.

• Beit al-Mamlouka, a 17th-century house in Damascus. It has been a luxury boutique hotel since 2005.
• Azm Palace, built in 1750 as a home for the Ottoman governor of Damascus, As'ad Pasha al-Azm.
• Beit Al-Sibai house, completed in 1773–1774 (1184 Hijra).
• Bait Nizam, 18th century.
• Bayt Farhi, 18th–19th century.
• Maktab Anbar, a mid-19th-century Jewish mansion. It was restored in 1976 by the Ministry of Culture to be used as a library, exhibition center, museum, and craft workshops.

• Al-Joqmoqiyya Madrasa
• al-Nuriyya al-Kubra Madrasa, built in 1167 by Nūr ad-Dīn Zangī.
• The Great Al-Adiliyah Madrasa, a 13th-century school named after Ayyubid Al-Adil I.
• Al-Zahiriyah Library, established in 1277. It is named after its founder, Mamluk Sultan Baibars.
• Al-Fathiyah Madrasa, built in 1743 by an Ottoman official named Fethi Al-Defterdar.
• Al-Qaymariyya Madrasa
• Al-Joqmoqiyya Madrasa
• Al-Zahiriyah Madrasa, established in 1277. It is named after Sultan Baibars.
• Al-Qilijiyah Madrasa, established in 1254.

• Umayyad Mosque, also called the Great Mosque of Damascus. It was built between 705 and 715 on the site of an Aramean temple. Before that, the site was a temple to Hadad-Ramman.
• Sayyidah Ruqayya Mosque, the shrine of Ruqayya, the youngest daughter of Husayn ibn Ali.
• Synagogues:

Districts and subdivisions

• Al-Qaymariyya
• Al-Amarah Al-Jouwaniyah
• Al-Amin Jewish quarter
• Bab Tuma Al-Jourah
• Al-Hariqa
• Ma'azanat ash-Shahm
• Shaghour al-Juwani

Preservation of the ancient city

Between 1995 and 2009, about 30,000 people left Old Damascus to live in more modern homes. This caused many buildings in the old city to be abandoned or fall into poor condition. In March 2007, the local government announced plans to tear down buildings along a 1,400-meter (4,600-foot) section of the city’s ancient walls as part of a redevelopment project. These issues led the World Monuments Fund to add Old Damascus to its 2008 list of the 100 most endangered sites globally.

Despite advice from the UNESCO World Heritage Center, several problems occurred:
– In November 2006, Souq al-Atiq, a protected area, was destroyed in three days.
– King Faysal Street, a historic craft area near the city walls between the Citadel and Bab Touma, is at risk from a planned highway.
– In 2007, the Old City of Damascus, especially the Bab Tuma district, was named one of the world’s most endangered sites by the World Monuments Fund.

In October 2010, the Global Heritage Fund listed Damascus as one of 12 cultural heritage sites closest to facing permanent loss or destruction.

The area outside the Roman-era walls is also part of Old Damascus, but it has not received the same level of historical protection. During the French mandate, French architect Michel Écochard proposed an urban plan that suggested preserving only the parts of the old city inside the Roman walls. This idea was later followed by Syria’s governments, leading to the demolition of some old neighborhoods. In areas like Sarouja, Al Midan, and Shagour Barrani, old homes were replaced with new buildings for trade purposes.