Umayyad Mosque

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 museum of Arabic calligraphy in al-Jaqmaqiyya, a Mamluk madrasa built between 1418 and 1421 next to the Umayyad Mosque, whose façade is known for its coloured stonework and carved inscriptions. It shows manuscripts, calligraphic panels and the tools of calligraphers.

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

The graves of Ottoman airmen who died in 1914 during a pioneering flight from Istanbul to Cairo. They were buried beside the Mausoleum of Saladin near the Umayyad Mosque.

Damascus

The tomb of Sultan Saladin (died 1193), built in 1196 in a small garden against the north wall of the Umayyad Mosque. It was restored after the visit of the German Emperor Wilhelm II in 1898, who donated a marble cenotaph that stands beside the original wooden one over Saladin's remains.

Damascus

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