Umayyad Mosque stands at the end of Al Hamidiyeh Souq. It was built in 705 AD when Damascus was the capital of the Arab Islamic Empire. This is a section of its enormous courtyard.
Elias and Hadi had told me I should wear a head scarf to visit the mosque, so I bought a nice one in the souq on the way. However, that wasn’t sufficient - I was asked to wear a robe anyway, so I now have a very pretty souvenir of the Hamidiyeh Souq, obtained under false pretences!
Before the Islamic conquest of 635 AD, the Christian church of St John the Baptist stood on the site of the Umayyad Mosque. This (I think) is the tomb of John the Baptist, which still remains here. Here’s Pat beside it.
Around the walls of the courtyard are beautiful mosaics, depicting scenes from nature.
Taking Elias’ advice, we took our shoes with us in a bag, so we were able to leave the mosque by a different door, into the narrow alleyways of Old Damascus. I bought one each of these giant balloons for Liam and William.
Natural orange juice.
Following Elias’ mud map.
Elias had given us excellent instructions, because after a few twists and turns through the alleyways, we arrived at the Nawfara Coffee Shop.
We could have smoked shisha at the Nawfara Coffee Shop, but we settled for Turkish coffee.
“Now you will know you are in Damascus.” Elias said this would happen to us once we started to explore the alleyways around the Nawfara Coffee Shop.
I have many photos of the back of Pat as I trailed along behind him, photographing the magic that unfolded at every step.
More magic....
....and more....
....and even more.....
To be continued....
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