WELCOME TO SYRIA

When you enter an old souk (bazaar) in Syria, you will realize that history is something alive and tangible, something you can see, touch and smell. In Damascus, if you walk down the Street called Straight (Midhat Pasha), you might feel that you were walking alongside Saul of Tarsus, suddenly transformed into St Paul on seeing the light of faith, the light on "the road to Damascus".
The glass- blower at their brick furnaces, might remind you of their predecessors, who first invented coloured glass 3,000 years ago. In the thirteenth century, two Italian brothers came to Syria to learn the skill of glass-blowing, which they took back to Venice, and started fashioning "Venetian" glass.

A journey through a Syrian town is a journey into both the past and the present at the same time. You might happen on a Roman arch, built centuries before Christ, under which you might find a shop selling the latest electronic gadgets. Or you may pass on Ottoman caravanserai, bustling under its evocative Arabesque designs with present-day commercial activity.

Damascus, the world's oldest inhabited city, contains Greek ruins built over Aramean temples, and minarets rising over Crusader remains. The Omayyad mosque, a great edifice of Islamic civilization, became a prototype of Islamic architecture, from Spain to Samarcand.

In Aleppo, a grand fortress rises before you, on the very mount where, in the year 2,000 BC, Abraham is said to have milked his cow, giving the site of the city its name, Halab (in Arabic "to milk"). The long, winding stone bazaar of Aleppo is one of the most beautiful in the East, replete with locally-famous coloured silk scarves, perfumes, and soaps still made to ancient recipes.

On the northern coast, your imagination can wander back unhindered by the modern ships you see- to those early sailors who set forth from this very shore, taking their coloured glass, their cloth of gold, their carved wood, and their alphabet to the far-flung regions of the known world.

The villages of Syria, whether they nestle in mountain valleys, or cluster along the coast, or border a great desert, are unique in their traditions and in the native costumes of their inhabitants. Maaloula, a village not far from Damascus where the houses are carved out of the mountain stone, still speaks Aramaic, the language of Jesus Christ.

These settlers preserved their original characteristics despite the numerous conquests (Greek, Roman, Persian among others) which they were to experience. In 636 AD, when Muslim Arab tribes entered Syria from that same Arabian Peninsula that had given it its original inhabitants, they brought with them their language, Arabic, and their religion, Islam, both of which endure in modern Syria today.

Culture in Syria

Culture in Syria is linked to its heritage and to the influences inherited from the various civilizations which succeeded each other over its lands: its libraries are full of rare manuscripts and priceless paintings and works of art. These libraries are found in the various cultural and educational institutions but the most important of them is Al-Asad public library, The modern and contemporary cultural edifice which contains most of the rare and priceless manuscripts beside great numbers of books, publications and paintings old and modern.
The availability of these reference books encourage cultural activities in Syria. Not one week passes without intellectual conferences, fairs and seminars are held in universities, museums, cultural centers in Damascus and all other Syrian towns and townships.
Several exhibition halls exist which present the latest masterpieces of Syrian plastic art painters.

Al-Assad Library

Al-ASSAD library is considered "The national library" of "Syrian Arab Republic". It was inaugurated on /November 16/1984/ under the leader president HAFEZ AL-ASSAD's auspices. The library lies in the west part of Damascus city and overlooks into [UMAWYEEN square]. The library covers an area of [22000 m sq], and it is surrounded by a landscape ground (gardens) which extends on a space of [6.000 m sq]. The complex (buildings) of the library comprises of nine floors.

Being "The national library" of the Syrian Arab Republic, AL-ASSAD library's first task is to gather all books and daily issues in addition to all kinds of literature connected with our "ancestral cultural legacy", then to sort out these materials to serve researchers and scholars and benefit them. The library has interest also in modern cultural legacy of all its kinds. As for our ancient cultural legacy (scripts) the library tries to gather all what is available of these scripts to preserve them by conserving maintenance and storing in suitable "warehouses".

The High Institute of Music

The Syrian Conservatory Institution is the premier academy for the study of music in Syria.
Students develop high musical competencies in areas such as performance, composition, and production.
One of our primary goals is to fosterwestern music and to convey oriental music to the world.

Dar Al-Assad for Arts & Culture

Just off a central roundabout in Damascus, adjacent to the Higher Institute of Drama & Music off Beirut Street, looms a tall marble building. Combining Western architectural features with Arabesque designs.
The new Dar Al-Assad Opera House for Arts & Culture, opened in 7th May 2004, is Syria's most recent attempt to boost its arts and culture scene and bring international performances to the country.

hotels in syria

Hotels in Damascus	Suites in Damascus	Hotels in Damascus Countryside
Hotels in Aleppo	Hotels in Edlib	Hotels in Latakia
Hotels in Tartous	Hotels in Homs	Hotels in Al Wadi
Hotels in Mashta Al Hello	Hotels in Safita	Hotels in Palmyra
Hotels in Hama	Hotels in Bosra	Hotels in Der Ezzor
Hotels in Slonfeh	Home