In the footsteps of St Paul in Damascus: Kawkab, Straight Street and Bab Kisan

Chapter 9 of the Acts of the Apostles tells of Saul of Tarsus in Damascus in four steps. He is struck down on the road by a light from heaven and spends three days in a house on Straight Street. Ananias lays his hands on him and restores his sight, and with the gates watched, he escapes over the wall in a basket. This route follows those four steps across six stops, in the order the story tells them. There are two traditions for the place where he fell, and the route goes to both: the hill of Kawkab outside the city and Tabbaleh at the foot of the wall. The first half is by car, the second on foot inside the old city. The whole day covers nearly 53 kilometres, two of them on foot.

The route

Leave Damascus south-west on the Quneitra road. On the black basalt hill above the village of Kawkab stands Deir al-Ruya, the Monastery of the Vision of Saint Paul, 22 kilometres from the city. The round church dates from 1962, and a bronze statue of Paul stands in the garden. From here head back towards Damascus and enter from the south-east: in the Tabbaleh quarter, south-east of Bab Kisan, is the Memorial of Saint Paul with its tent-shaped roof. The drive is 24 kilometres. Rather than walking from Tabbaleh to the old city, take a taxi and get out at the western end of Straight Street, at Souq Midhat Pasha; it is 5 kilometres by car, a quarter of an hour depending on traffic. The straight line under the market roof is the main avenue of Roman Damascus, the place the text calls the street called Straight. Walk east: after about 700 metres comes the courtyard of the Mariamite Cathedral. Carry on and go down into the Chapel of Saint Ananias at the eastern edge of the Christian quarter, about 800 metres. The last leg runs south along the eastern wall to Bab Kisan: 650 metres.

Timing

Leave Damascus at 08:00; Kawkab is half an hour away. Give the monastery an hour and find the painting of Paul falling from his horse inside the church. Back on the road at 09:45, be in Tabbaleh by 10:30. The stained glass reads in order: Paul’s preaching behind the altar, then in the nave the vision, the baptism and the escape. Forty-five minutes is enough. At 11:30 you are at the western end of Souq Midhat Pasha. Walking east before noon, while the market is open, is livelier. You reach the Mariamite around 12:00. The door of Saint Ananias can close around midday; try to be down the stairs before 12:45. Reach Bab Kisan at 13:30. On 29 June the monastery at Kawkab holds its yearly feast, and thousands of pilgrims come from Damascus and Lebanon. On that day both the road and the hill are full.

Take care

The Kawkab road runs towards Quneitra, and conditions on the roads in that direction have been changeable since 2025. Before you set out, check both the road and whether the monastery is receiving visitors; if it is closed, starting at Tabbaleh still keeps the order of the story. Five of the six stops are working places of worship: shoulders and knees covered, no photographs during a service. The stair at Saint Ananias is narrow and has no handrail, and the chapel lies 5-6 metres below street level; two groups cannot go down at once. Entry at Saint Ananias and at the chapel in Bab Kisan varies; check at the door and carry cash. The front of Bab Kisan faces outside the wall, so you see it from the opposite pavement; traffic runs through the square in front. The church in Tabbaleh and the chapel on the wall at Bab Kisan are separate buildings; do not confuse them.