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Aug 2010
If you were given all the time in the world to explore Damascus, it wouldn't be enough. When you bear in mind that this is believed to be the oldest inhabited city on earth, you begin to appreciate the layers of history that are found within each building block and street corner, and the amount of time that you would need to unravel and experience it all.
Gulfnews.com
Jun 2010
It's midnight at the oasis. A storm sweeps in from the desert and howls all night, rattling the windows, unsettling the dogs, sandblasting the already blasted ruins of Palmyra. Only the camels seem unfazed. In this once great colony in central Syria, on the itinerary of every caravan passing between the Mediterranean and Mesopotamia, the beautiful rebel queen, Zenobia, defied the Romans and built an empire of her own.
The Sydney Morning Herald
Jun 2010
As the oldest continuously inhabited city in the world, Damascus has world-wide importance that goes way beyond its present role as capital of Syria and the city was declared a Cultural World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1979. The many cultures associated with the city are reflected in the architecture; the Citadel erected by the Seljuks in 1078 A.D. ; the Ommayad Mosque, built in 705 A.D. when Damascus was the capital of the Arab Islamic Empire; ruins of Roman Temples and the Roman Wall with its seven gates, Corinthian columns and triumphal arches.
May 2010
The long weekend in Damascus started with a fairly unsocial flight. It departed at 9.30pm and landed at 4.40am, the flight time was 5hrs. We were shattered by the time we arrived at the sweet little Boutique Hotel we were staying at called Beit Rumman. Beit was situated just off the main road through old town called ‘The Straight Street’, in the heart of the Christian Quarter. Luckily we were able to go into our room and sleep for another few hours. The hotel was nothing to look at on the outside however inside it was a sanctuary.
travelblog.com
Apr 2010
Tradition has it that when the Prophet Mohammed first set eyes on Damascus, he refused to take another step forward. Gazing upon the gleaming white stone city surrounded by the gardens and orchards of its well-watered plain, he is said to have remarked that a man could only have one paradise and that to enter the paradise of heaven would mean giving up the earthly paradise of Damascus.
Financial Times
Mar 2010
A video by Zaina Erham, produced during an IWPR workshop for young Syrian journalists held in Damascus, November 2009.
The old city of Damascus is undergoing major changes. Amid a tourism boom, investors have turned many old houses into boutique hotels but local people are worried that the traditional neighbourhoods are changing.
Already there are about 12 hotels with 200 hotel rooms in the old city and the number is set to rise to 35 hotels by 2012. The trend is making people like Richard feel like strangers in their own city.
YouTube
Jan 2010
Damascus and Aleppo in Syria are becoming hot tourist destinations. Rundown or abandoned 17th- and 18th-century Arabic houses have been renovated into charming, boutique hotels. WSJ's Don Duncan reports.
http://online.wsj.com
Jan 2010
DEIR MAR MOUSA, Syria — As darkness falls over the vast Syrian desert and the first winter stars emerge, a trail of modern-day pilgrims is slowly climbing the stone steps of this remote cliff-top monastery.
They are a motley crew of religious seekers and backpackers from a dozen countries, some hoping for divine wisdom, others merely curious. But all are hoping to meet the Rev. Paolo Dall’Oglio, the burly and dedicated Jesuit priest who has made this ancient sanctuary a center of Christian-Muslim dialogue.
The New York Times
Jan 2010
TO shouts of “yella-yella” — move along! — the driver of a donkey lugging a wagon overstuffed with pistachios parted the throngs of shoppers in Aleppo’s medieval souk. It was the middle of Ramadan, just hours before the iftar, the evening meal when Muslims break their daily fast, and the market’s serpentine rows of squat stalls were filled with black-veiled women and keffiyeh-clad men, sniffing the handmade olive soaps and stocking up on spices.
But there was another kind of shopper blocking the donkey’s path: Western tourists.
The New York Times
Jan 2010
It may sound like an Indiana Jones film, but Syria's abandoned Byzantine towns are real (though barely visited) archaeological treasures.
Guardian UK