The Rose of Damascus

	AL SAHAB Tours
	A New Style of Service For Your Ultimate Satisfaction

Damascus is one of the oldest inhabited cities in the world; it became the capital of Aramean Kingdom.
In 333-332 Alexander captured it. Around 85 B.C., the Nabateans from Petra took the city. In 66 B.C. was occupied by Romans. Damascus is famous in the annals of Christianity as the place of the conversion of St. Paul.
In 635 A.D. it opened its gates to the Arabs.

Some of the most popular sites to visit are: The Umayyad Mosque (That has survived the intervening 1200 years with surprising integrity in spit successive invasions, Mongol sackings and the ravages of earthquakes, fire. And lately it was visited by the Pop Jean Paul 2nd who was following the road of St. Paul in his mission spreading Christianity),

Al-Azm Palace,

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 of Arts and Popular Traditions.

The Chapel of St. Ananias & St. Paul's Window,

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 hide in a house nearby 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.

The National Museum,

Founded in 1919, initially installed at the Madraseh al Adiliyeh. The construction of a new building was between 1935 and 1979 and it becomes the central Museum of Syria. Since then the following monuments had been reconstructed within this Museum

1- The hypogeum of Yarhay from Palmyra, 108 A.D.
2- The Synagogue of Dura Europos, mid 3rd century A.D.
3- The facade of Qasr al-Hair al Gharbi, dated to 727 A.D.
4- One of the entries of Yalbugha Mosque.
5- The Damascus reception hall of 1737 A.D.

Hamidiye Bazar,

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.

Saladin Mausoleum

The tomb is next door to the north gate of the Omayyad Mosque. It was originally part of al-Azizieh School built by Uttoman, Saladin's son, in the twelfth century. The whole interior is decorated with polychrome marble mosaics.

And the Museum of Arabic Medicine & Science

Nuri Health Centre (Bimaristan)

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 Script of the Oldest Song Found on Earth

Main Page Option Two