Wednesday 4 March 2015

Syria


We hear so much about Syria these days - usually in connection with evil hearted terrorists who have chosen to make it a sort of gathering point for themselves.  Yet over the years when I visited Syria the most striking thing was the dignified friendliness of the people and the sheer lack of fanaticism. It was a place where, as a non-Muslim woman, I was treated always with the greatest respect and kindness, and where I always felt entirely safe, even walking through dark alleyways at night, alone. 

I know that murderous fanatics have been smashing up the amazing heritage of this country - not to mention elsewhere in the Middle East. Until I went there I had no idea of how much history there was in the deserts, in the stones and streets and houses.  I have been looking through my hundreds of images of Syria lately, and picked out a few, almost at random.  I'm offering them to you now.  Just so you know. 


Above - some of the buses were works of art. This driver was rightly proud of his. Because Syria wasn't really a tourist destination, few people knew about the splendid buses that were to be found, many of them decidedly vintage but very reliable. 

  Below, a Syrian Orthodox church


There are very, very ancient Christian churches at Ma'loula, some of which were converted from Roman era temples, and don't have electricity; such a powerful atmosphere. Ma'loula is one of the few places where people still pray in Aramaic, the language of Jesus.   I believe many of these amazing places have been destroyed by the  bigots and vandals.




We had one very memorable trip to Palmyra, a great abandoned Roman city in the desert.   Our hotel was right in the silent remains of the city, surrounded by the ruins, and so we were able to get up and wander around before dawn, all by ourselves.  Here is the moon setting just before dawn.

 This picture below was taken just after sunrise.  We climbed some of those hills, and found them covered in tiny translucent flowers which looked almost like glass.


This is Beit Jabri, one of the best places to eat in Damascus, popular with just about everyone. It was hidden away in a tiny alleyway. Once a courtyard of an old mansion, it was roofed in with glass, with flowers growing inside and out - and great food at very low prices. You could come almost any time of day or night and find it busy with people meeting their friends and having fun. 


A fountain at Al-Azem palace.


Below is a little corner of a souq.  Nobody ever pestered you to buy in Syria. Nor was there the tiresome business of haggling.  You could wander around and please yourself whether you bought anything or not.   Souqs in Aleppo and Damascus were both vast, full of life and with countless things to see (and buy), and they rambled on for miles.   It certainly makes going to a supermarket seem dull and bland.


This is part of the exterior of the Ummayyad mosque in Damascus, built on the ruins of a very early Christian basilica dedicated to John the Baptist - and John the Baptist's shrine was on display inside the mosque.    There was a large archway left over from the Roman Temple of Jupiter in the square, which was one of the entrances to the souq, so there were always people around until late at night.  The tomb of Saladin is to the North of the mosque; it is where the Prophet Muhammed is said to have recited verses from the Quran.  


Inside the souq were all kinds of travelling salesmen including coffee sellers and candy sellers.  Somewhere I have a picture of a coffee seller with a great curved coffee pot on his back. But I'm just offering you a selection of pictures here.

Anyway these lurid sweets caught the little boy's eye.  I don't think his granddad was going to buy him any though.


Some of the buses were very striking, both inside (see top picture) and out.


Some of the best Middle Eastern pastries come from Damascus. This was a small, old but high class shop in a dark square in the centre of Damascus which sold elaborate boxes of sweetmeats.


The courtyard of the al-Mamlouka hotel, hidden in the maze of streets that made up Damascus's Christian Quarter. Most large Arab houses present a blank face to the street but have these hidden courtyards; this one had huge mirrors in the niches around it to reflect the light.


Some very splendid ancient cars on the streets. OK - who can name this one? I feel as if I should know what it is.


A staging post in the desert, with shop and café.  Imagine total silence all around... it made a huge impression on me.   The domed building is in a traditional architectural style. 


Bosra, in the south of the country, dates from Roman times and was capital of the Roman province of Arabia Petraea.  When we went the entire huge site was almost deserted but this amphitheatre was quite spectacular and gave an eerily convincing impression of how it must have felt to come along to see a show in Roman times. Backstage it was dark and massive. 
I've never been a huge fan of the Romans -too tough and brutal - but I always admire their extraordinary building and engineering skills.


Local needlework


This dear little boy was full of happiness and mischief. He was having a picnic with his large extended family inside the mosque, which has a great marble floor and courtyard.  Families seemed to hang out there for hours, chatting with friends, using the mosque almost as a park - and his family was settled down for the whole afternoon. This is the only picture I took of him where he was not pulling funny faces.


We last went there in 2011. The country had been a dictatorship for many years but things were gradually liberalising.  Life was far from perfect - to put it mildly - but people coped with problems with grace and humour.  It is painful to think of the bad times there now and I very much hope that peace will return sooner rather than later... and visitors from the outside world will also be able to return, to admire this most varied and appealing country.

58 comments:

  1. Dear Jenny - I am so pleased that you have written this interesting post and shown the ancient and historical glories of Syria, and the lovely people.
    Syria was a country that I had hoped to visit but now it is very unlikely that I shall ever see it. However, the most important fact is the welfare of all the Syrians that have been so badly injured, lost their families and are now homeless. It is incredible to think that this crisis is already into its fifth year.

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  2. Lovely photos and the kid is so cute...

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  3. Jenny, I went through your beautiful pictures over and over. It is sad beyond words to consider the current state of Syria and its neighbors.

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  4. I'm so very glad you shared these, Jenny. It is very easy to forget amidst stories of war, fundamentalism, terror, that countries are made up of people who do exactly what we do -- and under worse circumstances. They eat out, the kids play and go to school, they have remarkable traditional crafts and music and long histories. I wish them peace and I wish for us all the gift of seeing beyond the headlines and into the human.

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  5. Such great service you perform for the people you befriended there. You make us care even more. . .



    ALOHA from Honolulu
    ComfortSpiral
    =^..^=

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  6. Sweetie says the car is an Oldsmobile 88 from the mid-1950s.

    The whole situation in the Middle East breaks my heart, and i pray for peace every day.

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    1. Well done, your Sweetie. It would have worried me for ages if someone hadn't got it.

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  7. These pictures are wonderful, but I must admit they fill me with sadness because of the current calamity befalling this country. I hope the situation changes and Syria can show off the beauty of its culture and people.

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  8. A story told in wonderful pictures...as is your talent to do, Jenny.

    I don't and will never understand the mindset of the barbarians who destroyed part of the history of humanity... I don't want to understand that kind of....I can't even find the words to describe the behaviour of, as you call them - "the murderous fanatics". Surely life, anywhere, isn't meant to be like that.

    I can't see peace returning any time soon...and I really hate saying that because I wish it was otherwise. Has the world ever lived peacefully?

    Your photos are magnificent...thank you for sharing. :)

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  9. These are beautiful photos showing a great culture. That little boy is so sweet. It breaks my heart to watch what the extremists are doing to it and to the people. My father had Armenian Syrian cousins – I remember them coming to visit us in Paris when I was a child. There is/was (?) a large Armenian community in Syria. Since they are Christian Orthodox I am afraid that they are not very safe there now. I hope like you that peace can return to this land.

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  10. My uncle (Mum's brother) and aunt lived in Damascus for 25 years, after having to move away from Beirut because of the war and political instability going on there. They watch from afar, helpless, what is happening to a country they knew and loved so well. How much worse must it be for those who still have family and friends there, maybe not hearing from them for weeks on end.

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  11. What a fabulous, revealing and sensitive post. I experienced a little of the rich and ancient culture of the Middle East in Dubai - but I suspect it was nothing like this. It is tragic and wrong that the entire Middle East, not least Syria, is in the state it is in. And it threatens everyone. I wonder where the little boy in your photo is now? Thank you, Jenny.

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  12. This is such an important post. There are real people, leading ordinary lives in lovely places, caught up in all this fighting. And this is the heritage that may be destroyed in all the mayhem. The news tells us of religious conflict and fanaticism - and loses sight of the whole story, known best by the men and women driving those buses or making the sweets.

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  13. Hello Jenny,

    We have enjoyed this post tremendously. The current climate in Syria is so worryingly awful that it is good to be reminded that there are so many good people living there trying to live their lives in peace. Surely, this is all anyone wants.

    We know nothing of Syria apart from what we see on news broadcasts and it certainly looks to be a vibrant and colourful country. So many contrasts and diversities, one can only hope that tolerance and liberalism will return for there is so much of interest to see and experience.

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  14. This is one of the most interesting posts I have read. When we see or hear about war-torn areas, we can't imagine all the loss their culture has experienced. These pictures show what was and it is so sad to think what is.

    I wonder where that little boy is today and what horrors he might have seen. I hope he can still find some reason to smile.

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  15. Thank you for the pictures and words. I'm happy you were able to visit before the current changes took place. It is sad to think historic things have been destroyed and that many ordinary people there are living in a country that is being destroyed.

    Darla

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  16. I enjoyed your reflections on Syria and sickened by all the destruction of ancient artifacts that I saw on the news recently. It reminded me of the book burnings during the Chinese Cultural Revolution and other such atrocities. Sometimes a picture is all we have left and yours of a peaceful Syria are lovely.

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  17. As in every country at war, most people want only to be able to get on with their lives in peace...if only outside governments did not stir up trouble and back it by supplying arms! Your photographs show a country i would love to have visited...not just for the monuments but for the daily life.

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  18. Sad, sad, sad, what a beautiful country. We've never visited, but it looks very similar to Turkey where we lived for a couple of years.

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  19. I'm so glad to read this post, although it makes one even sadder to think what has been lost but it is good to remind ourselves that there are always so many sides to a situation, it is so easy just to think of Syria as a sit of war, not a beloved country. Thank you. Jane xx

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  20. Thank-you Jenny, for sharing your photographs and experiences.

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  21. Thank you for this. With all of the recent stories about horrors in this region, it's very nice to reflect on the good things and the wonderful people. I really enjoyed this post.

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  22. How wonderful and very sad is this post today.
    Hate destroys everything.

    cheers, parsnip

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  23. Thank you so much for taking us there, my heart breaks

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  24. so much art to their lives...i love the buses...and i would totally be about visiting the ruins and old structures....another firend posted pictures of the mosaics recovered in the hagga sophia...what a fascinating journey...i am envious...smiles.

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  25. Thank you so much for the comments, everyone. I am glad that you are interested to see a bit of the country behind the depressing headlines.

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  26. What a refreshing piece this is. It is so easy in these days of 24 hour news coverage to associate a place and a group of people with the crimes that are taking place around them and we all need reminding that neither peoples nor places are in themselves bad. Watching Wolf Hall you finish up thinking "what on earth would the rolling 24 hour news channels have made of this if they had been around at the time?" You can almost imagine the interviews with the staff at Lambeth Palace in order to discover whether Thomas Moore was radicalised whilst he was there.

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  27. What an awesome post, so many cool things to see.. I love the ruins.. Thanks for sharing this country and your visit..

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  28. You have shown beautiful images Jenny, of a country I now realise that I know nothing about. The Romans certainly were amazing engineers, and I love the old buildings and the amphitheatre. The people look friendly and colourful, and how sad that the ancient church has been destroyed. It is sad what has been going on in Syria, and I hope peace will soon be restored.

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  29. Heartbreaking. To have memories of such beauty and attitudes and to know what is happening now must be terrible for you.

    The car, by the way, is an Oldsmobile from the '50s.

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  30. Thank you, Jenny. I had no idea how beautiful Syria was. Please God peace can descend so the people can know happiness again.

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  31. Thank you for showing us this beautiful side of Syria . I don't know what still remains from what you saw, it's so sad . Wondering where this little boy is now ..

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  32. It is s beautiful country with beautiful people. It is very heartbreaking to see what is happening in their country now. My heart breaks for these people...just look at the bus driver with all smiles, look at the innocence in this kid's eyes. Look at those marvelous historical places. How sad it is to imagine that all these have been shattered together eith the lives of normal people who as well as the rest of the world just want to live life.

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  33. I think this your best post yet!
    Super fotos and a real insight into the Syria that was.
    Paul Theroux travelled there also with no trouble and met a lot of friendly people.
    Dreadful to think of the destruction caused by the war. Where are those people now?

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  34. I always feel enlightened when I visit you. And I love how you describe things. Truly, thank you.

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  35. This post is incredibly beautiful and heartbreaking at the same time.

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  36. I love the desert photos. It's such a shame to see the physical history of a place getting destroyed.

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  37. Thank you, thank you, thank you. You have given us a different perspective, from the "other" side. Have a nice rest of the weekend.

    Greetings from London.

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  38. Thanks for that. I knew nothing about Syria, I had no idea there was so much beauty and so many wonderful people. All I hear about in the news is all the death and destruction that seems to have taken over the country.

    I love the hotel courtyard and Palmyra and the amphitheatre. And tell me, what is that mysterious orange cord that the woman in the restaurant is holding?

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    1. Glad I could enlighten you a bit about Syria, Nick. The orange cord is a hubble bubble (hookah) - very common in that part of the world in just normal type restaurants.

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  39. Thank you to those who have identified the car. And so many of you are saying what is in my own mind - what is happening to the people now that we knew? We have heard that some have managed to get out, but most others just keep going. We are in touch with one of them and he says all you can do is accept it as your fate, but one of the hardest things the way that all those vicious fanatics have turned Syria into a sort of HQ and the locals have to endure that. It made me think when he said that - it's bad enough to read about these murderous people but to have them as your neighbours ... it doesn't bear thinking about.

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  40. Jenny, I agree with what some other comments said - this may be your best and most interesting post yet! It is so interesting to see what everyday life is (was) like for the ordinary people living there, and that they do exactly the same things that humans in other parts of the world do. I, too, wonder what has become of the young boy in your picture...

    And I think your photo of the staging post in the desert is absolutely fantastic!

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    1. The place in the desert was somewhere I will remember the rest of my life. The same with wandering round the ruins of Palmyra at dawn, it is a really huge site, the remains of a city stretching for miles. The modern town of Palmyra is a little bit outside it.

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  41. Thank you Jenny. It takes posts like this to remind us that places like Syria are not just names on a news bulletin but the homes of people just like you and I and that both people and their heritage are being destroyed by these wars and crises.

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  42. What a tragedy that Syria turned into terrible chaos in short years! You were so lucky to visit there with security and safety to experience rich culture and we are also lucky to be able to know such Syria through your report, Jenny. I like all the places you visited, especially Palmyra. The Syrian bus is so attractive. My youngest grandson Y must be overjoyed to see such pleasant buses as he enjoys seeing buses with his grandpa every day. This is my favorite post and the most interesting of yours.

    Yoko.

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  43. These photos are stunning! It's easy to forget that there are many "normal" people just trying to live good, quiet lives when a country is over-run with crazy extremists. I love the buses. I hope that little boy is doing alright today.

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  44. I love that you share photos of all the amazing places you get to visit. I'm sure I'll never have an opportunity to see Syria in person. I love that the buses are works of art!

    Reading about the people from your perspective is so different from what I would have guessed from watching the news. Deep down, we're different and yet we're all the same.

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  45. Amazing post, Jenny. Thank you for posting these lovely photos and reminding us that there is so much more to Syria than we see. What a lovely little boy. You have captured the true heart of that county so well xx

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  46. The staging post looks almost like a Dali painting.

    I find it so disheartening when people ruin houses of worship for whatever reason. I'm a Christian, but I don't mean just Christian churches. Why ruin whatever peace a person is trying to acquire? Even if you believe them to be in the wrong theologically, why not let them enjoy the beauty? I can't believe my God would find destruction, at my hands, to be something worth praise. I don't understand how someone else can worship a God they envision to be that much of an asshole.

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  47. Hi Jenny,

    So lovely to meet you!

    Your photos show a stunning country, rich in culture, and vast in history. It is truly so very disturbing to be witnessing such appalling scenes of violence and disrespect in Syria, nowadays, and I sincerely hope that the country will, one day, be able to come out of this horrible predicament that is afflicting it.

    Poppy

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  48. Arabic food is yummy and like most of the middle eastern countries Syria also is wonderful. Nice pictures and beautiful writing :)

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    1. Thanks for visiting, and good to hear your thoughts.

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  49. Thank you for sharing this view of Syria in less troubled times - you were lucky to visit then. I am currently reading some medieval history and it reminds me that, for some parts of the world, life is like that now. The most appalling acts of vandalism and desecration took place here a few centuries ago. I hope that one day the Middle East will be at peace.

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  50. I am glad this post has touched so many people. Thank you all for your comments.

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  51. I am glad this post has touched so many people. Thank you all for your comments.

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  52. I am so envious that you have seen parts of history that are now denied to future generations. War has never made sense to me and never will.

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  53. This is a wonderful selection, Jenny.
    How truly terrible that so much of this world heritage has gone for ever.

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  54. I came here to thank you for your kind comment on my post about my husband. thank you so much. Then I found myself fascinated by these gorgeous pictures and your story of a beautiful and dignified people who are now living through such unimaginable horror.

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