Leila's

Damascus

The oldest and best-known café of Old Damascus, just east of the Umayyad Mosque, serving coffee for around 250 years. It is known for its hakawati storyteller, who recites the tales of old heroes.

Damascus

A café inside the Old City of Damascus, in the Qaymariyya quarter, about 100 m from the Umayyad Mosque. It stands on Al Nofara. From here the markets, mosques and churches of the Old City are all within walking distance.

Damascus

A restaurant inside the Old City of Damascus, in the Qaymariyya quarter, about 100 m from Azm Palace. It stands on Bahra Al Assaadi Street. From here the markets, mosques and churches of the Old City are all within walking distance.

Damascus

One of the oldest great mosques in the world and the best-known landmark of Damascus, built by Caliph al-Walid I between 705 and 715 on a site that had been a Roman temple and then a church of St John the Baptist. It is famed for its golden mosaics, vast courtyard and three minarets, and its prayer hall holds the shrine of John the Baptist (the Prophet Yahya).

Damascus

The walled historic city at the heart of Damascus, one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world and a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1979. Within its walls and gates lie the Umayyad Mosque, covered souqs, khans, bathhouses, churches and hundreds of old Damascene houses.

Damascus

A restaurant and café in an old Damascene house in the Old City, one of its best-known places to sit. It serves Damascene dishes, coffee, tea and juices in the house's courtyard.