The Cave of Blood on Mount Qasioun

On the face of Mount Qasioun that looks down on Damascus, in the middle of bare rock, stands a white building with a green dome. A cave lies beneath it, and Damascenes give it two names: the Cave of the Forty and the Cave of Blood. The stair that climbs to it carries the same name, the Stair of the Forty.

Getting there

A stepped path starts from the upper lanes of the Muhajirin quarter and zigzags up the slope; you walk it along a railing and the whole route is visible from below. The climb is steep and there is no shade, so take water and shoes that grip. A taxi from the city can drop you at the foot of the stair.

What to see

Inside the cave there is a reddish patch of rock, the mark the story rests on. Water drips from a fissure in the roof. The prayer room next to the cave is said to hold forty mihrabs, and one mihrab is pointed out for Abraham and another for al-Khidr. From the terrace of the building the whole plain of Damascus is laid out.

The story told here

The account goes that Cain killed his brother Abel on this spot, that the mountain gasped at what had happened, and that the cave opened in the rock in the shape of an open mouth. The number forty comes from a second account: forty righteous men are said to come out from here and to keep watch over the city. Some tie the phrase Sham al-Sharif, noble Damascus, to those forty. This is folk narrative rather than record, but it is what explains why the shrine is here.

Don’t miss

Time the descent for sunset. The stair faces west, and you come down while the city lights switch on one by one below you. The steps can be left unlit after dark, so start down before the sun goes.