Old Damascus in a day

A route that stays inside the walls and moves east to west. The direction is not arbitrary. Entering at Bab Sharqi and walking west means reading the city in chronological order: the Roman grid first, then the Christian quarter, then the Ottoman courtyard and souq, and the Umayyad Mosque at the end. All of it is walkable.

The route

Enter at Bab Sharqi and hold Straight Street westward. The street takes you through the Christian quarter; ten minutes along it, a courtyard gate on the way opens into the Mariamite Cathedral. Come out of the church, stay on the street, and in the middle of the city turn south into the Bzouriyah souq and down to the door of the Azm Palace. After the palace, head north-west to the east entrance of the Al-Hamidiyah Souq; the souq in turn delivers you to the west gate of the mosque.

Timing

Be at Bab Sharqi at nine: the lanes are empty and the light comes from behind you rather than into your eyes. Allow half an hour for the church, which is quiet outside service times. Reach the Azm Palace before noon, while the courtyard is still in shade. Enter Al-Hamidiyah in the afternoon and you catch the shafts of light falling through the bullet holes in the roof. Leaving the mosque for after mid-afternoon gives you the quietest hour.

Take care

The souq closes on Friday afternoon and the mosque is busy with prayer; if you go that day, weight the walk towards the morning. Cover shoulders and knees in both the church and the mosque; shoes come off in the mosque, so socks help. The stone underfoot is uneven the whole way.