I rearranged general Damascus pictures in several galleries, this one is concerned with the citadel and much of the (western) side of the old town. As I have pictures from three visits, me criss-crossing about town all the time, if you do not follow my itinerary any more, take a look at the map view.

From the Encyclopaedia Britannica: city, capital of Syria. Located in the southwestern part of the country, it has been called the “pearl of the East.” Its Arabic name (colloquially ash-Shām, meaning “the northern,” as located from Arabia) derives from Dimashka, a word of pre-Semitic etymology, suggesting that the beginnings of Damascus go back to a time before recorded history. Many scholars believe that, among the ancient cities of the world, Damascus is perhaps the oldest continuously inhabited. The heart of the Old City, that part which contains most of the artifacts of its long history, is a rough oblong about 1,640 yards long and 1,100 yards wide, which is defined by historic walls. The long axis of the oblong runs east and west. Many of its most prominent features owe their positions to the city planners of early Hellenistic times and the Roman builders who followed them. In the 13 centuries following Damascus' capture by Muslim armies, Islāmic urban life and building have largely obscured the classical remains, whose pavements lie some 15 feet below the present street level. Although the population decreased drastically in the early Middle Ages, by the 13th and 14th centuries Damascus had revived and was outgrowing its walls. Two axes of development predominated—one to the northwest linking the city with the suburb of Ṣālḥīyah on the slopes of Jabal Qāsiyūn; the second growing like a long finger to the south. The Old City was designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1979. The modern city follows a plan devised by the French during the mandate period and revised in the 1960s. Along wide boulevards much new housing has developed in the form of concrete blocks of flats. Government buildings are concentrated in an area west of the walled city around Marjah Square and in several districts west of Ṣālḥīyah Street. Stimulated by the appeal of modern housing and amenities, well-to-do families began in the 1930s to move to the area northwest of the Old City and, subsequently, in other directions. As the population grew, more and more of the garden and farm area was converted to residential districts. Farming villages close by were incorporated into the city, administratively and physically. Government efforts to retain green areas and to zone industry have slowed the loss of gardens and orchards.