Bab Tuma

One of Damascus's seven historic gates and the Christian quarter that shares its name in the old city.

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.