Assal al-Ward

A town 55 kilometres north of Damascus, built at 1850 metres on a wide plateau that lies above the mountain peaks around it; geographers call it the Assal al-Ward plateau. At this height in the Qalamoun the winter is hard and the summer temperate, and the mountains around hold snow for a long part of the year. Cherries, apples, potatoes and peas come down from here.

Getting there

55 kilometres north of Damascus. The road is the northern continuation of the Saidnaya and Maaloula line; the last stretch climbs to 1850 metres. Snow can close it in winter. In those months, ask before you set out.

How long it takes

Two and a half hours. That covers the town, the ground around the spring and the remains on the slope. In orchard season it makes sense to stay longer.

What is there

Around the town stand the remains of Ras al-Nabi, the spring structure where the Majar stream rises and runs as far as Yabroud. On one mountain slope there are the remains of a church and a monastery, and a monastery cave. Neither is a prepared site — they lie between the fields and the slope, with no sign and no keeper.

The orchards

The altitude delays the cherries, and that is an advantage: the season continues here after it has closed on the plain. Apples, potatoes and peas come from the same height. There is roadside selling but no regular market; you get whatever somebody brought that day.

What is told and what is documented

A local account says Harun al-Rashid spent his summers at a place called Tell Fataya. Arabic sources give this with the note that it needs to be documented by archaeologists, and it stands here with the same note: there is an account, there is no excavation. It is not the only case in the town — the monastery remains on the slope have not been dated either. What you see is not a read history but a place not yet read.