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History in Damascus

Damascus carries its history through stone and street. The ancient gate of Bab ash-Sharqi and the Christian quarter around Bab Tuma reflect centuries of cultural coexistence. The Bimaristan of Nur ad-Din speaks to medieval scholarship and medicine, while the Citadel of Damascus embodies the shifting powers that have ruled the city. The Bab al-Saghir Cemetery, the Ash-Shaab Palace, the Cathedral of Saint George, and the Convent of Saint Thecla add further layers, with the surrounding sites of Anjar, Ad-Dumair, and Aaiha extending that historical reach beyond the city's limits.

13 places · Damascus, Syria · Editorially curated

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  • Aaiha
    Wikimedia Commons

    Aaiha

    Damascus

    architectureculturenature

    Aaiha is a small village in Lebanon, near the Syrian border, nestled in an intermontane basin at the foot of Mount Hermon. The village is home to a Roman temple built in 92 AD – a rare witness to ancient construction in this remote border region between the Beqaa Valley and modern Syria. The site overlooks a lake and seasonal wetlands that give the landscape a distinctive character. Today Aaiha is a quiet village that attracts mainly history enthusiasts and nature lovers exploring the lesser-visited corners of Lebanon.

  • Abbasiyyin Stadium
    Wikimedia Commons

    Abbasiyyin Stadium

    Damascus

    architecturecultureoutdoor activities

    The Abbasiyyin Stadium in Damascus served for decades as Syria's premier football venue, hosting the national team in front of up to 30,000 spectators. Built in the late 1950s, its utilitarian post-war design reflects the era of pan-Arab nation-building. Named after the Abbasid dynasty, the stadium was a symbol of national pride and communal identity. Due to Syria's prolonged conflict, the venue has been out of use for years. Today it stands empty, a quiet reminder of a time when football united the country.

  • Ad-Dumair
    Wikimedia Commons

    Ad-Dumair

    Damascus

    architectureculture

    Ad-Dumair is a small town about 45 kilometres north-east of Damascus in the Syrian province of Rif Dimashq. It is known primarily for a well-preserved Roman building from the 2nd or 3rd century AD, regarded as one of the best-preserved examples of Roman-era construction in Syria. The area served in antiquity as a waypoint on trade and military routes between Palmyra and Damascus. Today it remains a quiet, little-visited site for those with an interest in ancient Near Eastern archaeology. Due to the ongoing security situation in Syria, a visit is currently not advisable.

  • Anjar
    Wikimedia Commons

    Anjar

    Damascus

    culturenature

    Anjar is a small town in Lebanon's Bekaa Valley near the Syrian border whose population consists almost entirely of Armenian descendants – families who settled here following the Armenian Genocide. Adjacent to the town lie the ruins of an early Islamic Umayyad settlement from the 8th century, recognised as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1984. The excavated area reveals one of the few surviving planned urban layouts from the Umayyad period: palaces, a mosque, a hammam, and a street grid following the tradition of the Roman castrum. The combination of living Armenian diaspora culture and an early Islamic archaeological site makes Anjar an unusual destination in the Middle East.

  • Ash-Shaab Palace (Damascus)
    Wikimedia Commons

    Ash-Shaab Palace (Damascus)

    Damascus

    architectureculture

    The Ash-Shaab Palace – known as the Presidential Palace until 2024 – is the official residence of the Syrian head of state. It sits on Mount Mezzeh in western Damascus, adjacent to Mount Qasioun, and overlooks the entire city. The main building covers around 31,500 square metres, largely clad in Carrara marble, and is surrounded by an extensive security compound on the whole plateau. The palace embodies the power architecture of the Assad regime and, since Syria's political upheaval in late 2024, has become a prominent symbol of change in the public consciousness.

  • Bab al-Saghir Cemetery
    Wikimedia Commons

    Bab al-Saghir Cemetery

    Damascus

    local gems

    Bab al-Saghir Cemetery lies just southwest of the Damascus old city walls, near the gate of the same name. It is one of the oldest Islamic cemeteries in the world and the resting place of numerous significant figures from early Islamic history — including companions of the Prophet Muhammad and members of his family. For Shia Muslims in particular, it is an important pilgrimage destination. The narrow pathways between the tomb monuments are filled with devotion and the scent of incense; many graves are adorned with coloured tiles and decorative ironwork.

  • Bab Tuma
    Wikimedia Commons

    Bab Tuma

    Damascus

    architectureculturelocal gems

    Bab Tuma — the Gate of Thomas — is one of the seven historic gates in the ancient city walls of Damascus, situated in the northeast of the old city. The gate traces its origins to Roman urban planning, though it was rebuilt and fortified multiple times during the Islamic period. Far more than a crumbling fortification, Bab Tuma is today the name of a living Christian quarter that has been inhabited almost exclusively by Syrian Christians of various denominations for centuries. Between ancient churches, small restaurants, and narrow lanes, the neighborhood offers a glimpse of the coexistence that defined the Levant.

  • Bimaristan of Nur ad-Din
    Wikimedia Commons

    Bimaristan of Nur ad-Din

    Damascus

    architecturelocal gems

    The Bimaristan of Nur ad-Din in the heart of Damascus's old city is the oldest surviving medieval hospital in the city and one of the most significant of its kind in the Islamic world. Built in 1154 by the Zengid sultan Nur ad-Din, it served for centuries as an institution treating both physical and mental illness. The building forms part of a religious-social complex alongside a mosque and the founder's mausoleum. Restored in 1975, it now houses the Museum of Medicine and Science in the Arab World. The richly decorated iwans and shaded courtyard still convey the original dignity of the place.

  • Cathedral of Saint George (Damascus)
    Wikimedia Commons

    Cathedral of Saint George (Damascus)

    Damascus

    architectureculture

    The Cathedral of Saint George in the Bab Tuma quarter has been the official seat of the Patriarch of the Syriac Orthodox Church of Antioch since 1959. It stands in the northeastern part of the old city of Damascus, in a neighborhood that has been home to Christian communities for centuries. The current patriarch is Ignatius Aphrem II. The cathedral is not only a religious center but also a symbol of the unbroken continuity of Christian life in Damascus — one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world. The building itself is modest; its significance lies in its function.

  • Convent of Saint Thecla
    Wikimedia Commons

    Convent of Saint Thecla

    Damascus

    The Convent of Saint Thecla in Maaloula, Syria, is one of the most significant Christian pilgrimage sites in the Middle East. At the heart of the complex lies the grotto of Saint Thecla – an early Christian from the 1st century and disciple of the Apostle Paul – around which the current monastery was built in 1935. In 2013, Islamist fighters seized the town, kidnapped twelve nuns and heavily damaged the convent. After extensive restoration, it reopened in 2018. The village of Maaloula is also one of the last places in the world where Aramaic is still spoken as a living language.

  • Maalula
    Wikimedia Commons

    Maalula

    Damascus

    culturelocal gems

    Maalula is a small village in the Syrian Qalamoun Mountains, around 56 km northeast of Damascus. It is one of only three villages in the world where Western Neo-Aramaic is still spoken – a direct descendant of Aramaic, the language of Jesus. About 70% of its population are Christians, reflected in ancient monasteries and churches, including the Monastery of Mar Sarkis dating to an early Christian shrine of the 4th century. The village is nestled into a rugged rock landscape and is on the UNESCO Tentative List for World Heritage. Though heavily damaged in the Syrian Civil War, many residents have returned.

  • Qubbat al-Khazna (Treasury Dome)
    Wikimedia Commons

    Qubbat al-Khazna (Treasury Dome)

    Damascus

    architecture

    Qubbat al-Khazna is an octagonal pavilion standing on eight repurposed Roman columns in the courtyard of the Great Umayyad Mosque in Damascus. Built around 789 CE, it served as the mosque treasury – its name literally means "Dome of the Treasury." The dome is richly decorated with mosaics that exemplify the high craftsmanship of early Islamic architecture. A small but captivating architectural detail, it sits within one of the world's great religious complexes and the UNESCO-listed old city of Damascus.

  • Temple of Jupiter, Damascus
    Wikimedia Commons

    Temple of Jupiter, Damascus

    Damascus

    local gemsmystery

    The Temple of Jupiter in Damascus represents one of the oldest and most layered chapters of the city's religious memory. Built by the Romans from the reign of Augustus in the 1st century AD over an earlier temple dedicated to Hadad-Ramman and the Greek Zeus, it was one of the grandest sacred structures of the Roman Orient. In the 4th century the temple was converted into a Christian church; in the 8th century the famous Umayyad Mosque was built on the same site. Several of the original temple entrance columns still stand today, rising from the old city – silent witnesses to this long arc of religious continuity.

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