Damascus

Damascus occupies a plateau roughly 680 metres above sea level, eighty kilometres inland from the Mediterranean, shielded by the Anti-Lebanon range. This position, paired with the flow of the Barada River, has sustained human habitation for over five millennia. In antiquity, those waters fed a substantial lake—today known as Bahira Atayba—whose seasonal appearance reflected the health of the surrounding Ghouta oasis. Cultivation of fruits, cereals and vegetables there dates to the earliest urban settlements. The Anti-Lebanon peaks, rising beyond three thousand metres, cast a rain shadow that gives Damascus its arid climate, with annual rainfall of about 130 millimetres and a brief, intense autumn transition to winter rains. Summers extend dry and hot; winters remain cool with sporadic precipitation and rare snowfall.

First chosen as the seat of the Umayyad Caliphate in 661 CE, Damascus carried the banner of Islamic governance until 750, when the Abbasids shifted power to Baghdad. Under Abbasid rule the city’s prominence receded, only to return under the Ayyubids and later the Mamluks, who fortified its citadel and enriched its religious institutions. Today, the Umayyad Mosque presides over the old city’s southern bank of the Barada, its three minarets marking one of Islam’s holiest sites. Inside lie relics of John the Baptist and, according to belief, the threshold where Isa (Jesus) will descend in the End Times. Women entering cover hair, arms and legs beneath an abaya provided at the gate—a tangible ritual that connects living visitors with centuries of worship.

The old city encompasses a labyrinth of alleys and blank-faced homes guarding discrete courtyards lush with jasmine and orange trees. It retains four of its original seven gates: Bab Sharqi, Bab Tuma, Bab Kisan and Bab al-Saghir. Each leads to districts that once grew around tombs of venerated figures and along caravan routes. Midan, Sarouja, Imara and al-Salihiyah trace back to medieval origins; al-Akrad and al-Muhajirin took shape in the nineteenth century, settled by Kurdish soldiers and refugees from former Ottoman territories. Beyond these, al-Marjeh square emerged as the focus of modern administration, flanked by the post office, courts and railway station.

In the twentieth century, expansion pressed north of the Barada, encroaching on the Ghouta oasis. Mezzeh and Dummar rose on western and north-western slopes; Barzeh extended along the eastern mountain flank; Yarmouk, on the southern rim, became home to Palestinian refugees in 1956. Though planners sought to preserve irrigated farmland, rapid urban growth depleted the Barada to a narrow stream, and beneath the city, aquifers suffer pollution from runoff and sewage.

Damascus remains Syria’s political heart, hosting central government offices amid an urban area covering 105 square kilometres. The city proper housed 1.55 million people in 2004, across 309 000 dwellings; the broader metropolitan region reaches an estimated five million, including Douma, Harasta and Jaramana. Migrants from rural Syria and youthful arrivals pursuing work or study keep the population growth above the national average, even as the civil war has caused many to depart. By mid-2023, Damascus ranked lowest in liveability among 173 cities in the Global Liveability Index, a reflection of conflict’s enduring effects on infrastructure and services.

Economic life in Damascus has adapted to wartime conditions. Traditional handcrafts—copper engraving, inlaid woodwork and textiles—survive in the old souqs, while modern industry spans food processing, cement, chemicals and state-run textile mills. Since the early 2000s limited privatization encouraged private investment, office space grew in Marota City and Basillia City, two development projects launched in 2017 as symbols of post-war reconstruction. The Damascus Stock Exchange opened in Barzeh in 2009 and plans to relocate to Yaafur’s business district.

Annual trade expositions date to 1954; most locally produced goods, plus imports, now travel to Arabian Peninsula markets. Tourism, once a pillar of the local economy, has suffered under conflict. Prior to 2011, the old city’s boutique hotels and cafés—particularly along the narrow lanes off Souq al-Hamidiyya—drew European visitors to browse incense and silk. That broad covered avenue still smells of cumin, cardamom and dried herbs, its merchants selling leather, copperware and inlaid boxes. The Umayyad Mosque anchors one end; the citadel and Saladin’s mausoleum sit at the other, where a statue of Salah al-Din on horseback stands over two carved figures of Frankish knights captured after Hattin.

Religious plurality endures. Sunni Islam predominates; Alawite and Twelver Shiʿa communities center around the Mezzeh and Barzeh districts, especially near Sayyidah Ruqayya and Sayyidah Zaynab shrines. Christian rites—Syriac Orthodox, Melkite Greek Catholic, Syriac Catholic and Greek Orthodox—maintain headquarters in Bab Tuma, Qassaa and Ghassani. Notable churches include Saint Paul’s Cathedral, the Chapel of Saint Paul and the Dormition Cathedral. A smaller Druze community lives in Tadamon, Jaramana and Sahnaya. The once-sizeable Jewish quarter at Harat al-Yahud has emptied; as of 2023 no Jews remain.

Cultural institutions host occasional revivals. Museums—from the National Museum and Azm Palace’s ethnographic displays to the October War Panorama’s murals and Soviet-era hardware—remain accessible when security allows. In 2008 Damascus held the title of Arab Capital of Culture, prompting restoration of historical sites and the creation of the Arab Calligraphy Museum.

Public transport relies on a dense network of buses and minibuses: around one hundred informal lines lacking schedules or numbered routes. Stops form ad hoc clusters; drivers halt on demand. Sixty new buses arrived from China between 2019 and 2022, modernizing the fleet. Taxis abide by regulated fares and taximeters, though checkpoints manned by underpaid personnel often demand bribes. Damascus International Airport, twenty kilometres southeast, once served destinations across Asia, Europe, Africa and South America; today it links primarily to regional capitals.

Streets narrow within the old quarters, speed bumps ubiquitous. The Hejaz railway station, now defunct, stands west of the historic core; its tracks removed, it hosts exhibitions and a shuttle connection to the active Qadam station. A metro network was proposed in 2008: its green line is to bisect the city west to east, linking Moadamiyeh, Mezzeh and the Old City. Completion of four lines by 2050 remains the official timeline.

Leisure persists in green spaces and cafés. Tishreen Park, home to the annual flower show, offers respite alongside al-Jahiz, al-Sibbki and al-Wahda parks. The Ghouta oasis, when accessible, provides weekend retreats. Al-Fayhaa Sports City hosts football, basketball and swimming; its hall accommodated Syria’s national team versus Kazakhstan in November 2021. Damascus counts multiple football clubs—al-Jaish, al-Shorta, al-Wahda among them—and maintains a golf course on its southeastern fringe. Coffeehouses remain social hubs, offering nargileh, backgammon and chess under softly lit arches.

Visiting Damascus today demands awareness of ongoing challenges. Power interruptions recur. The Syrian pound’s value fluctuates steeply. Tourists should carry hard currency; large banks rarely honor traveller’s cheques, and ATMs cannot be relied upon. Money changers operate near markets—commission is uncommon—but official currency exchange rates should be checked in advance. Scams by mendicants and demands for bribes at checkpoints are frequent. Travel with a local guide can mitigate such encounters, easing navigation of permits and checkpoints.

Damascus stands as a living archive, its stones inscribed with layered histories: Roman temples repurposed as mosques; crusader relics woven into urban myth; medieval palaces next to factories humming with modern industry. Its resilience under strain has preserved fragments of its cultural wealth. Amid disrupted utilities and wary streets, the city’s memory endures in courtyards scented with jasmine, in the silent arches of ancient gates and in the riverbed of the Barada, waiting for renewal.