Travel in Damaskus - Syria - History - WorldTravelGate.net®-

The first mention of Damascus is in Egyptian records of four thousand years ago. After 1200 BC the kingdom of Damascus became a powerful state that long defied Assyria. However, the city fell to the Assyrian Kingdom in 732 BC. In 333 BC the Romans conquered by Alexander the Great and in 64 BC the city.

In AD 635, the city was conquered by the Arab Muslim armies, this marked the beginning of the city’s golden age which reached its apex in 661, when it became the capital of the Great Arab Empire that stretched from Spain to India, under the Umayyad Dynasty. Damascus was the most important centre of Arab Islamic culture before it lost most of its importance to Baghdad in 750.

Damascus was the target of many outside invasions, mainly the Crusaders and the Mongols between the 12th and the 15th centuries. The Ottoman Sultan Salim I in 1516 captured the city and the Ottoman occupation lasted for the next four centuries.

The end of World War I liberated Damascus liberated from the Ottomans by the Arab Revolution armies with British assistance. The first modern Syrian government was set up in 1919 with Damascus its capital, but British and France had their own different plans. Syria became a mandate of France. However, the Syrian people decided to resist.

In 1925, the Great Syrian Revolution against the French was launched from Jabal-al-Arab. Many battles between the revolts and the French troops took place in the farms of al-Ghouta outside Damascus. The French bombed the city and parts of it were severely damaged. Again in 1945, the French carried out a similar aggression against the Syrian Parliament buildings in Damascus.

1946 was the start of a new era. Syria became an independent republic, and Damascus soon became one of the major centres of Arab Nationalism.

The Syrian capital had witnessed great changes during the past 50 years. Much modernization had occurred. The city’s area and population count doubled many times. Today an estimated population of 3 million lives in Damascus.

Damascus is a wonderful mixture of old and new. In the modern part of the city there are up-to-date homes, hotels and government buildings. Whereas in the Old City, you can watch the graceful minarets and domes of more than 200 mosques rise above the famous one-story Damascene houses.

Damascus is famous for its bazaars. Bazaars are streets lined with shops, stalls and cafes. One of these is the “Street Called Straight”, mentioned in the Bible in connection with St. Paul’s conversion to Christianity. The tomb of John the Baptist (Prophet Yahia in the Quran) is situated in the Grand Umayyad Mosque in the centre of the old city.

The Umayyad Mosque is the symbol of Damascus. Built by Caliphate Al-Walid I in the 7th century, this mosque is a wonderful example for Islamic art and architecture. Other historic monuments in Damascus include the Azem Palace, a typical Damascene house of the 18th century.