Old City

The Old City of Damascus is one of the oldest continuously inhabited urban centres in the world, with evidence of settlement dating back to at least the 3rd millennium BCE. Enclosed within Roman and medieval walls, it was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1979.

The Old City occupies an area of approximately 86 hectares and is roughly rectangular, bounded by the walls that still stand in many places. Seven city gates provide access: Bab al-Faraj, Bab al-Faradis, Bab al-Salam, Bab Touma, Bab Sharqi, Bab Kisan, and Bab al-Saghir. Within these walls, the Street Called Straight (Via Recta) runs east-west, dividing the Old City into northern and southern halves.

The Old City contains an extraordinary density of monuments: the Umayyad Mosque, the Citadel, the Azem Palace, dozens of historic churches (including the Chapel of Saint Ananias and the Mariamite Cathedral), synagogues, khans (caravanserais), hammams, and hundreds of traditional Damascene courtyard houses. The souqs – Al-Hamidiyah, Al-Bzouriyya, and Midhat Pasha – are still thriving commercial arteries. The residential quarters are organised along religious and historical lines, with Christian quarters concentrated around Bab Touma and Bab Sharqi, and Muslim quarters in the south and west.