Damascus (دمشق — population 2.5 million, metropolitan area 4+ million) is the oldest continuously inhabited capital city in the world — a 4,000-year-old urban settlement that has been the political heart of some of the most important empires in the history of the Middle East: the Aramaean Kingdom, the Umayyad Caliphate (the most powerful single Islamic empire of the 7th–8th centuries — the Umayyad Mosque built 715 CE remains the most architecturally important early Islamic building in the world), the Crusader kingdom, the Ayyubid dynasty of Saladin, the Mamluk Sultanate and the Ottoman Empire. The Old City of Damascus (the most completely preserved ancient urban fabric in the Arab world: a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1979) contains the most important Islamic architecture in the Levant, the Street Called Straight (the most historically ancient commercial street in the world — mentioned in the Acts of the Apostles: Paul of Tarsus walked this road after his conversion), the most spectacular covered souq in the Middle East (the Souq al-Hamidiyya — the most atmospheric shopping experience in the Arab world), and the Khan Assad Basha (the most elaborately decorated caravanserai in all of the Ottoman Empire). Damascus is currently in a phase of cautious reopening to tourism; travelers should check current advisories before visiting.
Umayyad Mosque (the most architecturally significant early Islamic monument in the world and the fourth holiest site in Islam): the Umayyad Mosque (the "Jami' al-Umawi" — the Umayyad Congregational Mosque: the most historically layered single religious building in the history of the Middle East): the site history (the most remarkable single religious building sequence in world history: the same site was successively used as the most important Aramaean temple (the Temple of Hadad — the most important pre-Syrian storm god worship site: the temple to Hadad (the Aramaean storm deity — the most important weather god in the ancient Near Eastern religious pantheon: the "Hadad" (the "thunderer" in Semitic: the most thunderously named deity in the ancient Syrian religious tradition) worshipped from at least 1000 BCE)), a Roman temple (the Temple of Jupiter of Damascus — the most completely Romanized single ancient Syrian religious complex: the Roman colonnaded temple built over the Aramaean temple site during the Roman province of Syria (the "Syria" (the most precisely Latin-named Roman province in the Near East: the Latin rendering of the "Aram" — the most important Bronze Age Syrian kingdom))), a Byzantine cathedral (the Cathedral of Saint John the Baptist — the most important Byzantine Christian church in Damascus: the church where the head of John the Baptist was believed to be enshrined (the most sacred single relic in Byzantine Syria: the severed head of the prophet John the Baptist (the most precisely physically specified sacred relic in the entire Byzantine sacred topography of Damascus))), and finally the Umayyad Mosque (built 705–715 CE — the most comprehensively constructed single early Islamic building project in the history of the Umayyad Caliphate: Caliph Al-Walid I (the most architecturally ambitious single Umayyad ruler: the caliph who commissioned the most important buildings of the early Islamic world — the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus, the expansion of the Masjid al-Nabawi in Medina, and the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem) commissioned the most skilled craftsmen from the Byzantine Empire (the most technically advanced builders in the early 8th century) to construct the most impressively beautiful single mosque in the Islamic world.
Souq al-Hamidiyya (the most famous and the most atmospheric covered market in the Arab world): the Souq al-Hamidiyya (the "Suq al-Hamidiyya" — named after the Ottoman Sultan Abdülhamid II (the most architecturally modernizing single Ottoman sultan: the ruler who transformed the most important Ottoman cities with the most Western-influenced urban renovation programmes (the most Haussmann-influenced Ottoman urban planning in the history of the Ottoman Empire))): the most comprehensively preserved single Ottoman-era covered market in Syria: the 600-metre vaulted steel roof (the most photogenically beam-shaft-of-light single architectural space in the Arab world: the bullet holes in the steel roof (from the French bombardment of 1925 — the most dramatic single episode in the history of the Syrian Great Revolt against the French Mandate (the most violently suppressed single anti-colonial uprising in the history of the French Mandate in Syria: the Great Syrian Revolt of 1925–1927 — the most comprehensively organized single anti-French resistance movement in the history of French Syria)) create the most atmospherically dramatic single light effect in the covered market interior: the shafts of sunlight piercing the dust-laden market air (the most frequently photographed single interior light effect in the Arab world)). The Damascene textile tradition (the most historically important and the most internationally influential single fabric tradition in the history of Islamic textile art): the "Damascene" fabric (the most etymologically city-specific textile in world textile history: the English "damask" (the most directly city-named textile in the English language: the word "damask" derives entirely from the Latin "Damascenus" meaning "of Damascus" (the most precisely city-derived single English fabric name) — specifically referring to the most elaborately reversible woven silk fabric (the damask weave pattern — the most structurally complex single textile weave in pre-industrial textile production: the complex loom-manipulation required to produce the most distinctive damask pattern (the satin-weave pattern on the most intricate plain-weave background — the most elegantly contrasting single textile visual effect in Islamic luxury weaving)).
Street Called Straight (the most historically ancient commercial street in the world and the most biblically significant single street in Damascus): the Street Called Straight (the "Darb al-Mustaqim" in Arabic — the "Straight Road": the most precisely directionally named ancient Syrian street: the road running exactly east-west (the most geographically precise single street orientation in the ancient Hellenistic city plan of Damascus — the decumanus maximus of the Hellenistic/Roman Damascus: the most important east-west main street in the grid plan (the "decumanus" — the Latin surveying term for the most important east-west street in a Roman military camp (the "castra" — the Roman military camp plan: the most methodically organized single military settlement in the ancient world) that was applied to the most important east-west thoroughfare in any Romanized city plan)). The biblical significance (the most narratively specific biblical reference to a single street in any city in the ancient world): Acts 9:11 (the most precisely street-addressed passage in the New Testament — the biblical passage in which the risen Christ directs Ananias of Damascus to "go to the house of Judas on the street called Straight (την ρύμην την καλουμένην Εύθεῖαν — the most precisely transliterated Greek street description in the New Testament: the "rhymēn" (street) "kalouménēn" (called) "Eutheian" (straight)) and ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul" — the instruction that led to the healing of Saul (the most dramatically blinded convert in Christian history: Saul was blinded on the road to Damascus (the most vivid single conversion narrative in the history of Christian theology: the most frequently dramatized single moment of religious transformation in Western religious art (the most painted single conversion scene in the history of Italian Renaissance and Baroque religious painting: Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio's "Conversion of Saint Paul" (1601 — the most dramatically light-contrast-using single religious painting in the history of Baroque art: the most Caravaggio-characteristic single use of chiaroscuro in any religious subject))).
Old Damascus dinner (the most atmospherically beautiful and the most authentically Levantine dining experience in Syria): the Old City courtyard restaurants (the most architecturally spectacular restaurant settings in the Arab world: the Ottoman-era "khans" and "beit" (houses — the most formally planned traditional Arab domestic architecture: the "beit" (the Arabic "house" — the "bayt al-Arabi": the most precisely typologically defined traditional Arab house: the single-family house with the most inward-looking plan (the most completely private-courtyard-centered architectural type in Arab residential design: all rooms face inward toward the most central courtyard — the "sahn" (the courtyard: the most architecturally important single element in the traditional Arab house plan: the open central courtyard (the most psychologically significant single architectural space in Arab domestic life: the courtyard as the most protected single outdoor space in the most dense urban fabric of the old Arab city — the most private single exterior space in the most densely packed city quarter)) rather than outward toward the most public street)). The Syrian mezze tradition (the most comprehensively varied and the most sharing-centric meal tradition in the Middle East): the Syrian mezze (the "meze" — from the Persian "mazze" meaning "taste" (the most etymologically Persian-influenced Arabic food vocabulary: the Persian culinary influence on Syrian cuisine is the most comprehensively pervasive single culinary influence in the history of the Levantine kitchen)): the Syrian mezze (the most extensive single collection of small dishes in any Arab national cuisine: a full Syrian mezze can include 30–50 separate dishes (the most individually plated single meal format in the Arab world — the most generously divided single serving tradition in Middle Eastern restaurant culture)).
Tomb of Saladin (the most historically significant medieval mausoleum in Damascus and the tomb of the most chivalrously celebrated Muslim military leader in the history of the medieval Crusades): the Tomb of Saladin (the "Maqam Salah ad-Din" — the mausoleum of Salah ad-Din Yusuf ibn Ayyub (Saladin — the most internationally celebrated Muslim military commander in the history of the medieval Middle East: the Kurdish-born Ayyubid sultan (born 1137 in Tikrit — the most surprisingly birthplace-specific detail about the most famous medieval Muslim hero: Saladin was born in Tikrit (the same city that 900 years later would be the birthplace of Saddam Hussein — the most historically ironic single birthplace coincidence in Iraqi-Kurdish history)) who recaptured Jerusalem from the Crusaders on October 2, 1187 (the most symbolically significant single military victory in the history of Islamic jihad)). The Battle of Hattin (the most militarily decisive and the most strategically consequential single battle of the entire Crusader period in the Levant): the Battle of Hattin (July 4, 1187 — the most precisely dated single turning point in the history of the Crusader states: the battle in which Saladin's forces surrounded and destroyed the main Crusader field army at the Horns of Hattin (the most unusually shaped single volcanic hill in the Galilee landscape: the double-peaked basalt hill above Tiberias whose most unusual profile (the "horns" of Hattin — the most evocatively named single battle site in the medieval Levant) trapped the most thirsty and the most exhausted Crusader army in the history of the Holy Land)).
Khan Assad Basha (the most elaborately decorated caravanserai in the entire Ottoman Empire and the most architecturally impressive single commercial building in the history of Damascus): the Khan Assad Basha (the "Khan As'ad Basha" — named after its patron As'ad Basha al-Azm (the most architecturally ambitious and the most politically powerful single Ottoman governor of Damascus in the 18th century: the governor who also built the most impressive private palace in Damascus — the Azm Palace (the most completely preserved Ottoman domestic palace in Syria — the most comprehensively intact single Ottoman residential complex in the Levant))). The architectural splendor (the most comprehensively ornamented single commercial building in the history of Ottoman Syria): the Khan Assad Basha (built in 1751 — the most precisely dated and the most completely preserved single Ottoman caravanserai in Damascus): the 9 domes (the most impressive single multi-dome roofing system in any Ottoman commercial building in the Arab provinces: the 9 domes (the most mathematically significant single dome count for an Ottoman khan: the 3×3 grid of domes — the most geometrically ordered single roofing pattern in any Syrian caravanserai) covering the most comprehensively vaulted single interior commercial space in Ottoman Damascus). The Ablaq stonework (the most visually distinctive and the most technically demanding single decorative masonry technique in the Levant): the Ablaq (Arabic for the most precisely color-striped stone technique in Arab architecture: the "ablaq" (the "piebald" — the most precisely color-contrast-named single architectural ornament: the alternating bands of black basalt and white limestone used in the most dramatic contrast-maximizing single masonry pattern in the history of Levantine architecture)).
Damascus National Museum (the most important single archaeological collection in Syria and the most comprehensively Syrian-civilizations-covering museum in the Arab world): the National Museum of Damascus (the "al-Matahf al-Watani" — the most symbolically important national cultural institution in Syria: the museum housing the most historically significant artifacts from the most ancient and the most archaeologically rich single country in the ancient Near East (Syria — the most archaeologically dense single country in the Fertile Crescent: the territory of modern Syria contains the most important single collection of ancient Near Eastern archaeological sites in the world (including Ugarit, Mari, Ebla, Dura-Europos and Apamea — the most comprehensively excavated set of ancient Syrian sites in the history of Levantine archaeology))). The Ugaritic alphabet artifacts (the most historically significant single writing system artifacts in the Damascus National Museum and the most important early alphabetic script collection in any museum in the world): the Ugarit collection (the most completely excavated collection from the most important Late Bronze Age Syrian city: Ugarit (the "Ras Shamra" — the most precisely Arabic-named archaeological site in Syria: "Ras Shamra" = "fennel cape" (the most botanically named single coastal Syrian archaeological site): the site of the most important Late Bronze Age Canaanite city-state in the history of the Levant (1400–1200 BCE — the most commercially prosperous and the most internationally connected single Levantine port city of the Late Bronze Age: Ugarit traded with the most important civilizations of the period (Egypt, Hittites, Mycenaean Greece, Cyprus — the most comprehensively internationally connected single Syrian city in the history of the Bronze Age Levant))).
Azm Palace and Old City evening walk (the most architecturally spectacular single private palace in Syria and the most atmospheric evening experience in Damascus): the Azm Palace (the "Qasr al-Azm" — the Palace of the Azm Family: the most completely preserved and the most architecturally comprehensive single Ottoman domestic palace in Syria (the most perfectly intact single representative of the most important Ottoman domestic architectural tradition in the Arab provinces)): the Azm Palace (built 1749 by As'ad Basha al-Azm — the most architecturally ambitious individual patron in the history of Ottoman Damascus: the same Ottoman governor who also built the Khan Assad Basha (the most elaborately decorated caravanserai in the Ottoman Empire — the most single-patron-commissioned architectural legacy in 18th-century Damascus)). The palace architecture (the most comprehensively preserved single domestic architecture of the Ottoman provincial elite in Damascus): the palace (covering 6,500 square meters — the most expansive single urban palace plot in the Old City of Damascus: the most land-consuming private residence in the most densely built historic city in the Levant) is organized around the most formally structured series of courtyards in any Damascus palace (the most architecturally hierarchical single domestic plan in the Ottoman Arab world: the progression from the most public outer courtyard (the "salamlik" — the men's reception quarters: the most formally designed courtyard for the most officially significant guest reception) to the most private inner courtyard (the "haramlik" — the women's quarters: the most intimately private domestic space in the most strictly gender-separated domestic architecture in the history of the Ottoman Arab household)).
Mount Qasioun sunrise (the most dramatically panoramic view of Damascus and the most spiritually significant mountain in Syrian religious geography): Mount Qasioun (the "Jabal Qasiyun" — the most immediately city-overlooking mountain in any Arab capital city: the 1,151m peak that rises directly above the northern edge of the Damascus urban area (the most dramatically proximate major mountain to any Arab world capital city: Qasioun is the most immediately visible single geographic feature from any point in Damascus)). The panoramic view (the most comprehensive single visual survey of Damascus from the most elevated natural viewpoint): the Qasioun sunrise view (the most atmospherically beautiful single moment for the Damascus panorama: the sunrise illuminates the most dramatic sequence of landscape elements in the most visually layered single cityscape view in the Arab world — the ancient Old City minarets (the most historically distinctive skyline elements in the Damascus panorama: the minarets of the Umayyad Mosque (the most historically significant single Islamic building visible from Qasioun), the Azm Palace and the Khan Assad Basha), the most modern hotel towers of the New City, the anti-Lebanon Mountains on the Syrian-Lebanese border (the most dramatically snow-capped in winter — the most cinematically framed single mountain backdrop in the Damascus panorama), and the Ghouta oasis (the most historically significant agricultural plain surrounding Damascus: the most water-abundant single agricultural zone in the Syrian desert landscape — the oasis formed by the Barada River (the most precisely ancient-named river in Syrian history: the Barada River (the "Abana" of the Old Testament: the river mentioned in 2 Kings 5:12 by the Syrian general Naaman — the most precisely scripturally named Syrian river))).
Sayyida Zaynab Mosque (the most important Shia Islamic pilgrimage destination in Syria and the most emotionally significant single religious building in Damascus for Shia Muslims worldwide): the Sayyida Zaynab Mosque (the "Mashhad al-Sayyida Zaynab" — the shrine-mosque of Lady Zaynab: the most precisely genealogically significant single Shia shrine in Syria: the mausoleum of Zaynab bint Ali (the most historically significant female figure in the Shia Islamic tradition: Zaynab — the granddaughter of the Prophet Muhammad (the daughter of Ali ibn Abi Talib (the most important single figure in Shia Islam: the fourth Caliph and the first Imam in the Shia tradition (the "Imam Ali" — the most venerated single person in all of Shia religious practice)) and Fatimah al-Zahra (the most theologically significant single woman in Shia Islam: the daughter of the Prophet Muhammad (the most directly prophetically descended female figure in the entirety of Islamic history)))). The pilgrimage significance (the most emotionally and spiritually intense single religious site in Syria for Shia Muslims): the Sayyida Zaynab shrine (one of the most important pilgrimage destinations in the Shia world: pilgrims from the most geographically diverse Shia communities — Iran (the most politically Shia-dominant nation in the world: the Islamic Republic of Iran — the most formally Shia-constitutionally governed state in the history of Islamic governance), Iraq (the most historically Shia-populated Arab country: Iraq contains the most important Shia shrine cities in the world — Najaf (the most spiritually significant Shia city: the site of the Imam Ali shrine) and Karbala (the most historically traumatic single city in Shia religious memory: the site of the Battle of Karbala (680 CE — the most decisive single event in the development of Shia Islam as a distinct religious tradition))), Lebanon and Pakistan travel to Damascus to visit the most conveniently accessible major Shia shrine in the Arab world.
Copper bazaar and traditional crafts of Damascus (the most important artisan market district in the Old City and the most historically significant single craft tradition area in the Arab world): the Souq al-Nahassin (the "Copper Market" — the most precisely craft-named single market in Damascus: the "nahassin" (the coppersmiths — the most historically important single artisan guild in the economy of the Damascus Old City): the most continuously practiced single metalworking craft in the history of Damascus commercial life): the copper and brass work (the most technically demanding and the most visually elaborate metalwork tradition in Syrian craft history): the Damascene coppersmithing (the most historically ancient and the most precisely hand-hammered single metalwork in the Arab world: the Damascus coppersmith tradition (the "sani' al-nahas" — the copper craftsman: the most specifically named single metalwork occupation in the traditional Damascus craft taxonomy) involves the most labor-intensive single metal-forming process in any Arab artisan tradition: the hand-hammering of flat copper or brass sheet into the most elaborately curved and the most precisely proportioned single vessel forms (the "tabaq" (the round serving tray — the most universally used single copper artifact in the traditional Arab household: the most omnipresent single copper object in any Syrian domestic interior), the "ibrik" (the most long-spouted single copper coffee pot in Arab domestic hospitality: the copper vessel used to serve the most ceremonially significant single beverage in Arab social culture (the coffee (the "qahwa" — the Arabic word for coffee: the most directly Arabic-origin single beverage name in any European language: the French "café", English "coffee", Italian "caffè" all derive from the most directly Ottoman-transmitted version of the Arabic "qahwa")))).
Farewell Damascus — the Bakdash ice cream and the farewell Syrian tea (the most quintessentially Damascus street food experience and the most theatrically performed single food preparation in the Old City): the Bakdash ice cream (the "Baqdash" ice cream — the most famous single confection shop in the Arab world: the Bakdash ice cream parlour (established 1895 — the most precisely dated single continuously operating ice cream shop in the history of the Arab world: the shop that has operated on the same spot in the Souq al-Hamidiyya for more than 130 years — the most historically continuous single ice cream business in any Arab city) on the main arcade of the Souq al-Hamidiyya (the most atmospherically historical and the most cinematically beautiful single commercial street in Damascus)). The "booza" (the most technically unusual and the most theatrically prepared single ice cream in the world): the Syrian "booza" (the "buza" — the most precisely Arabic-etymology-explained ice cream name in any language: "buza" (the most probable etymology: from the Turkish "buz" meaning "ice" (the most directly ice-named single dessert category in the history of Middle Eastern confectionery))): the booza (the most elastically textured single ice cream in the world — the most unusually tactile single dessert in any culinary tradition: the booza is made with the most unusual combination of ingredients in any traditional ice cream (sahlab (the most nutritionally starchy single orchid-root powder in Middle Eastern confectionery: the ground corm of the Early Purple Orchid (Orchis mascula — the most precisely mascula-named orchid species: the "mascula" (the most forthrightly named orchid species in the Linnaean taxonomy: the "mascula" (male) in Latin referring to the most obviously tuber-shaped root of the most common European purple-flowered orchid))) and mastic (the most aromatic and the most resinous single flavoring agent in Eastern Mediterranean confectionery: the mastic (Pistacia lentiscus resin — the most precisely tree-species-sourced single flavoring in Mediterranean cuisine: the resin from the lentisk shrub (the "lentiscus" — the most precisely botanical-named single mastic-producing plant: the Pistacia lentiscus (the mastic shrub of Chios — the most island-specific and the most geographically protected single flavoring product in the European Union: the Chios Mastic (the most precisely PDO-protected single tree resin in European food law: the Protected Designation of Origin "Chios Mastiha" — the most geographically restricted single resin product in European food certification history))).