damascus | syria
Centre Stage Adriaane Pielou revels in the historic splendour of Damascus’ Old City.
My guide, Abdul, is getting into his stride. ‘Damascus is the centre of the world,’ he says. ‘Just look at a map! It’s exactly at the crossroads of Asia and Europe. That is why, in the days of the Arab empire, it was the richest city in the world. All the Silk Road traders stopped here. Everyone!’ He breaks off as the waiter brings our coffee, and chats briefly to the boy (‘He’s one of my students from my Heritage Tourism class!’) while I gaze around. I’m in love. Not with Abdul, endearing though he is, and with whom I am sitting in the Damascus National Museum’s open-air café – a vine-roofed affair, with tree stumps for table supports, overlooking the museum’s straggly garden filled with ancient statues. A thoroughly knowledgeable guide is the greatest travel luxury – and Abdul is the best in the city, according to the local Madame Fixit. But it is a place rather than a person that is making my heart race. Modern Damascus looks very dull – all 1970s apartment blocks and scruffy electrical shops. The Old City, however, the ancient walled enclave around which it has grown, is something else. Dating back more than 4,500 years, it is the oldest continually inhabited city in the world. It has the only street mentioned by name in the Bible –
May 2011 Kanoo World Traveller 63