Inside Damascus: The Oldest City in the World (2026) 🇸🇾 I S3, EP37

Damascus old city has a very very diverse religion. You will see churches next to the mosque and you will see different churches for example catholic, orthodox, armenian. Hi everyone, welcome back to the channel. Today I am in Damascus, the capital of Syria and right now I am in old city. It's a very very lovely city and this city has a recorded urban history of more than five thousand years. It's truly one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world. Seems they are splitting the bread and then put them into separate bags. Why are they doing this? Because it's fresh, very hot, so they need to open it unless if it's cold while it's still like with we say like to get the air go through. It will be stick like these two sides will be stick to each other. Otherwise it will stick together. That gentleman also gave me this two pieces of chocolate. They just offered us a piece of bread. No money. The arabic bread is coming out from the oven and every piece is so puffed up. It's like like a small pillow. And there on the top the bread is dropping out. It's so fluffy. With that piece of bread in my mouth, I'll start the story. As one of the oldest cities on earth, it's no exaggeration. Damascus is the most fascinating old city I've visited in years. It has been continuously inhabited for over 4,500 years and has served as capital for more than 3,000 years. Even today it feels like a living museum. Every corner holds history in motion. In the old city there was a perfectly straight street known as straight street and quietly this is where the story of the city begins. The eastern gate dates back to the roman time. Behind the gate you'll see layers of byzantine and later islamic architecture. In the days of the silk road, caravans would enter through here moving into dense network of suits. In the old days, yes, rooms for staying for the traders when they come here. So they will put their goods or products here and then they go to sleep or overnight in the second and since damascus is very very hot in summer you know they have this big dome on the top so that the natural light can can go through and meanwhile it kind of provides shade and you can even walk through this. I honestly don't know what it looks like. Maybe it goes to a different place. Maybe it ends here. So this is the old restaurant inside the caverns where you can get a tea. Merhaba. Good morning. Morning. And I want to show you the the door. Sorry, this one? Yes. Is this for the kids? For the kids. For the small. So there is this door you see it's a piece of metal but here there is one for the kid. It's such an interesting design. Because the boys. Yes. They play with it. Yes. Thanks. You're welcome. So look at this one. This is a more simplified version. This is another different door lock. Oh wow. So this is one of the oldest. Is this for men or for women? For men. For women in the morning. And you need special. For men every time. For men all the time. Thanks. It's an old old hammam. Hello. Now they're cleaning the place. There are several hammams in old city and they are still operating. So in the middle there is a fountain and then people can after taking a bath. So the bath is inside. After taking a bath they can just relax here and smoke some shisha. So he told me I can go inside. Because now apparently no one is taking a bath right now. It's actually very hot inside. Steamy. To travel or for business? Buy some shoes. Ah yes it's very good in China. Yeah. Can I go? Thanks. Oh wow it's so steamy. Can I take a photo? So the guy is now taking a shower. Wow. Beyond the hammams the old city is filled with places with history. So just now when we finished dinner I saw this house because it looks really fancy inside. I asked Ramy if this is someone's house and then someone opened the door and that's why we can get in. So in every house you'll find this section where it's dedicated for the guests you know. It's a little bit outside of the house and then you have your friends here. You gather. You play So it's a special place to treat your guests. Yeah exactly so if you invite your guests you don't host them in the house because maybe sometimes the family members they are not ready or so on. So you have always this section the social section let's say and it's always ready equipped with the bitter coffee with the things that shisha and so on yeah. It's like a small treasure house so you can see so many beautiful beautiful beautiful furnitures. Oh look at this. Those are all handmade. That's all handwork. Originally an old style Arabic house you know called Damascus. Yeah. My grandfather which is there in the picture. Yeah. What are those photos on? This is my cousin which is the same age as mine and this is actually my grandfather's brother. And is it a tradition that here in the house people put you know family photos family members photos in the house? Yes because my grandfather used to live here before and he used to take his visitor here as well. Maybe this is the only Madarfa in the old city. No there's so many You know this area called Shahour. It's very famous with something called the leadership. Leadership of the neighborhood. Being leadership. So every single leadership has to own one of these places for visitor for his friend for his family. It used to solve problems here as well. People who fight with each other used to come to places like this and the leader fixed it between them. Yeah. So it's a peacemaking house brings people together. Inside the souk the atmosphere is alive. Some vendors carry golden kettles on their bags. Some carry large trays delivering meals through the cart. There are textiles spices in every color traditional Syrian souk and stores filled with unfamiliar herbal remedies. Sweets and dried fruits are everywhere. Do they have a name? Wow say that again. I can never pronounce that. So basically it's fruit that is to say that they add sugar or they put them in sugar. The pear, peach, peach, eggplant, mandarin and then the fruit of the cactus. So it's very juicy. It's like a small pack of honey. Hidden within the souk is a historic ice cream shop. Still crowded and it has been for generations. The ice cream here is kind of hard and sticky and this gentleman is hit it with a big hammer. How long how long do you think? 12 hours. Wow. He has a muscle. That's crazy really this thing is heavy actually. I think it's at least five six kilos I would say. Wow it's fizzy. I think I go faster than the motorbike. The traffic is extremely jammed right now. The gentleman told us that from here you can see that yeah. How old? How many years? 300 years old. 300 years. Wow. From here you can see the paintings. We got a lentil soup and this is a grilled eggplant with tahini and then we got another hummus salad and this kube pickled vegetables and of course the shawarma. But this time the shawarma comes with a plate and some some bread on top. If you walk within the city you will find Damascus old city has a very very diverse religion. You will see churches next to the mosque and you will see different churches for example catholic orthodox armenia and this is because in its long history Damascus has long been a crossroad of civilizations and faiths. It was ruled by different empires including the arameans the romans and then the byzantines the umayyad and then the ottomans. So each empire brought their own religion and community and all that was absorbed into the city's social fabric. Much of the city's history is recorded in one of the oldest mosques in the city center Umayyad mosque. This site has over 3 000 years of history. It began at the temple of Jupiter then became the church of Saint John the Baptist during the Byzantine era and later with the arrival of Islam was transformed into a mosque. So when you walk through that mosque you realize that there are still many elements from the church for example they have these three aisles was typical for basilic basilics actually and also the windows you can see the clear clear elements. Now it's turned to a mosque and apparently there is a group of people that comes five times a day for the call to prayer to perform the adhan inside the church and they sing it out which is pretty cool. Yet even today the shrine of John the Baptist still stands inside. One of its minaret is known as the minaret of Jesus. So this is not just a mosque it is a place where christian and muslim traditions overlap and continue to coexist. So today is sunday so that means there is the mass in the morning. So you have all the christians here around the church. Now we're gonna check out the inside. It feels like a living museum where many traditional crafts are performed. Every craftsman has a small shop some with carpets others make blades. In some courtyard large looms are still in use producing orders known as damask brocade a shiny patterned textile made with silk still from china like centuries ago. But the most well-known craft here is perhaps a art that decorate almost every seer's house. And he's been doing this art mosaic since i think 50 years. Wow yes around 50 years. So how to do this art? Let me show you. This is a workshop that when you enter you can feel how old it is and here you can see all the materials the artisan used. Here is like a whole cupboard of different patterns that he created over the years. Everyone is a little bit different and then he kind of glued all those different blocks together in order to get more complicated patterns. They will cut it in two slices for example this would make 200 slices and each one will be very thin. I will show you one and then like two sides like the same we will have the same design. It must be very challenging for the eyes as well. Right? You have to see where you put them together. Like this they do the slices on the machine. It's like cutting sausage. Exactly. Here you can see the slices. So this is like maybe one millimeter. And inside it's background. Wow oh it's even the inside wow from the inside to the outside. Is this like a table you turn this around? Yeah. So here you place this and it has like the face for 20 years. So how they do this? They don't do it like for example piece by piece. They do for example the legs. It might take months or maybe one year to finish all the legs. And he's saying it took me years to do it but of course like not to do it like continuously working on it. Like every time I will get the idea how I want to design it. So I will add something until I like reach the design that I want. But now you can see how different it is. Because this is the holes like they did. Ah so they leave it and then put shell. Exactly. Oh wow. So the wood is one thing and this comes after. Yeah of course. I'm going to get one box because it's so lovely. Those colorful wood sometimes only a few millimeters wide are assembled slowly piece by piece forming intricate geometric patterns. Then combined into larger designs and cut into layers and made into furniture. For the craftsman here a single craft often becomes a lifelong pursuit. Within those intricate mosaics a lifetime is quietly stored. So it's for the sweets. For the cookies. That's steamed with dates maybe pistachio. So they put it here inside to take the shape. This is for honey and they steam it with rice. What is on her head? Bread. Ah a bread. Wow. I love it how they carry the bread around. In another glass workshop the furnace is running. The craftsman takes his time for breakfast. When he finishes he makes himself a cup of tea and sits in front of the furnace. The glassware here is often blue or green. Simple and traditional. And just a few steps away you start to hear the raining sound of accomplishments at work. So they used to say nowadays it's more for decoration. Like this. Ah your hand on the wall. But back then you feel people were more interested in such things just for their daily life. Yeah. How long has he been doing like this? 50. 50. He's among the people who can do it without even this. Like even if you follow he's not following the pattern. Yeah. The pattern just like to imagine what he want to do. Yeah. But like it's from his heart. You see. Wow. Yes there is a lot of detail in it. This is draw. Yeah. Different from this design. Ah I see. So it's just a draft. And when you do it. I want to. I want to know the sizes I draw. But I must be repair the draw when I when I design. So the design is just a reference. Yes. Yeah I think when I reach his age probably I won't see that well. But he can still work on this fine piece of art. It's just so incredible. Incredible. Right now we are in Damascus international airport. We are almost ready to board the plane to leave Syria. And before ending we want to give you some very practical information if you are interested in visiting Syria. So the first thing is safety. So many people will ask if it's safe to visit Syria before visiting the country. Because it's it has always been on the news. I would say generally yes it's quite safe. But it depends what region you're traveling to. So most of the tourists including us we went to Damascus Aleppo. We went to the coastal areas Homs. And I would say this is really safe. However if you want to travel on your own there are some regions that at the moment are a little bit less stable. Or whether issues for example the Kurdish regions or the southern regions which are not accessible even some of them. So I would advise to go with a guide. Because some villages even are not accessible. And as a foreigner you most certainly won't know about it. And they will know. So they can guide you through the areas where it's very safe. And the second thing is visa. So if you are a free independent traveler and you want to explore Syria by yourself. I highly recommend that you go by land crossing the border from either Lebanon or Jordan. Because those are the most reliable route. And you don't need any paper. You can just get a visa once you cross the border. And I don't recommend you to cross the border from Iraq. Because as far as I heard from some locals there might be some safety issues. Although many people do manage to cross the border from Iraq to Syria. You can also fly into Syria into Damascus or Aleppo. But for that you will go through a tour agency. Because you need a little visa approval paper kind of thing. That is only being issued by tour agencies. So the name of the agency will be marked on this paper. There were some cases apparently where people managed to enter Syria without this. But usually including ourselves you will get asked before boarding. Otherwise they won't let you board the plane. And since Syria has a different visa policy for people from different nationalities. And also this policy is constantly changing. I highly recommend you to check syriaguides.com for the most updated information. And the third most important thing is that remember to bring enough cash with you. Ideally US dollars. Because of the sanctions you can never draw any money from the ATM here in Syria. And it's also impossible to book hotels in Syria through for example booking.com. Those kind of websites. You need to either write an email to the hotel and then pay them in cash at the reception. So same idea. You have to pay everything in cash in Syria. And people actually do accept dollars a lot. So remember to bring enough cash with you. The last thing is the internet. So in Syria overall internet is very slow. Unfortunately still. I mean at some point maybe it will change. And as a tourist I advise you to get a tourist sim card at the airport directly. It's quite expensive. So we paid 40 US dollars for 15 gigabytes data volume. But it's basically the only reliable internet connection you will have. Because in hotels it's mostly very slow. And depending on what kind of hotel you will stay at, only the more expensive ones will offer you a 4G kind of internet router if you want to upload something. We had to upload one YouTube video and it was really a little bit painful. We did it all through our phones because it basically didn't work with the hotel Wi-Fi. So this is something to keep in mind. And also there's a little bit of internet restriction. I mean not in Syria itself. But if you want to access your bank accounts for example, your bank accounts abroad from within Syria, it's often not accepted. Because they say you're trying to access it from a high-risk country. And you cannot do online payments for example. All this kind of stuff is something you need to keep in mind. So you need a VPN if you want to access certain websites. And it's also possible to get an eSIM card at the airport. You just need to pay another 15 US dollars. Yeah. So that's it. If you want more information you can check the website at syriaguides.com. They offer very practical and up-to-date information that will help you to travel in Syria. So that's all. No. We still bought the flight. Because we will take Syrian Airlines to go to Istanbul. And as some of you might know I'm a little bit into aviation. So I'm really excited about that. And there it is. The 26 year old 737-500 from Syrian Air. I'm really excited flying with them. I don't know at all what it's gonna be like. I don't even know if there will be lunch or anything. But I'm really looking forward. The pilots are from Ukraine. I just met them over there. So pretty excited. Thank you. It's a really old plane. Look at this. This plane is like a flying museum. It doesn't even have winglets. This is definitely the oldest aircraft I've ever flown with. How old is it? 28 years. 28 years. I've enjoyed every minute of it. This is the video. We hope you enjoy this episode.