Muhajreen, Damascus

Muhajreen is the second hillside quarter of Damascus after Salihiyya, and a place that took its name from the people put there. It was laid out on the western foot of Mount Qasioun, on land once called Taht al-Raddadin that belonged to the Al-Mu’ayyad al-Azm family. It began as a suburb at the foot of the mountain. Later it became a municipal unit covering several quarters.

Where the name comes from

In the late 19th century Muslim refugees fleeing Crete were settled here, and the quarter is named after them. Its founding is tied to the settlement policy of the governor Hussein Nazim Pasha. So the quarter did not simply spread. It was created by decision, and it is the clearest example of how the city moved beyond its walls.

Getting there

The quarter runs up a slope, so you climb from the city centre. A tram line built under Ottoman rule once connected it to the centre; the network closed in the 1960s, and the way up now is by road. Muhajreen today is not one neighbourhood: Abu Rummaneh, al-Habbubi, al-Maliki, al-Marabit, al-Mastaba, al-Rawda and Shoura all belong to the same unit.

What to see

The Muhajreen Palace, the first presidential palace, stands in this quarter. Everyday life is lower down, in the Habbubi part: the Shaalan souq and the shops along Hafiz Ibrahim Street. The geography reads from here too. The Barada valley cuts Mount Qasioun in two, and on the southern half, on Jabal Antar, sits Qasr al-Sha’b.

What most people miss

Climb, then turn round. The site of the quarter was not a preference but a necessity: the flat ground was full, so the city went up the slope. The streets narrow as they rise, and the plain of Damascus fits into a single frame.