Beit Jabri is one of many remarkable family homes in the lanes of old Damascus that have opened their doors to the public: they may have become boutique hotels or more humble abodes for international students or backpackers. Others, like Beit Jabri, have become cafe-restaurants that offer the delights of the Damascene cuisine.
Sitting at one of the tables in...
Video, September 2019. Susan Dirgham. On the way to Beit Jabri.
In the introduction to her book 'Damascus: Hidden Treasures of the Old City' (Thames & Hudson, 2001), Brigid Keenan begins,
My husband, a diplomat, was posted to Syria in 1993, and I went with him. Very soon, like Isabel, wife of the famous British Consul Richard Burton a hundred and...
Written by Alex Ray and first published in Middle East Eye, 26 May 2019
The capital's green spaces symbolise how many are trying to revitalise the environment amid the blood of war.
By Alex Ray in Damascus
26 May 2019
Fareed Notafji sips the sweet, strong labourer’s tea as we sit in front of the guard shed at the SEA Environmental Garden in Damascus.
When...
- from TravelTalesVideos
"Lose yourself in the labyrinth of bustling passageways. Chat with the merchants and locals ~ memories you won't soon forget."
Old Aleppo, Syria is walkable, facinating and for many a most memorable experience. Through videos and images Travel Tales gives you a tatalizing peek at Old Aleppo.
"Each civilized person in the world should admit that he has two home countries: the one he was born in, and Syria."
– André Parrot, (1901 – 1980), archaeologist specializing in the ancient Near East; director of The Louvre
“Had Syria not assumed pariah status in the eyes of some, the Grand Colonnade of Apamea would be considered among the ‘100...
Syria extends from desert landscapes to fertile plains. There are undulating hills with olive groves that stretch to the Mediterranean Sea. Under the night skies, the lights of villages twinkle. Snow-capped mountains look down on modern suburbs, but also on ancient columns, khans, castles and places of worship.
There is evidence of earthquakes and invasions stretching back millennia, but for...
This video interview with Professor Maamoun Abdulkarim took place in a Damascus cafe on 22 September 2019. It wasn't the best environment to discuss a serious subject, and I had no external microphone for my mobile phone, but we made do.
Susan Dirgham
(For a transcript of the interview, please go to the bottom of this page.*)
During the worst years of...
14 October 2019
Last month, I was in Damascus for just 8 full days. I had a journalist's visa which ensured I had the chance to interview some distinguished Syrians as well as some 'ordinary' Syrians, all of them impressive people, and most of them women.
Most evident was the fact that the war has led to women in Syria finding...
Article by Rasha Milhem
22 April 2020
Above image: Church in Daraa, empty of its congregation for the Orthodox Easter Sunday service because of COVID-19 restrictions. (Ref: SANA, Christian denominations in Syria that follow Eastern calendar celebrate Easter)
Only international solidarity and cooperation among States can slow down and eventually defeat the common enemy
Professor Dr Alfred de Zayas
Syria’s Minister of Health, Nizar...
