Damascus · Old City · Syria

Al-Hamidiyeh Souq

bazaarsoukOttomangoogle verified

easy

9/10

best: morning, afternoon

lively, historic, sensory

A local would say...

Follow the bullet holes in the iron roof — they trace a path straight to 2000-year-old Roman columns.

Damascus's grand covered bazaar stretches from the Ottoman Hamidiyya Gate toward the Umayyad Mosque, its bullet-riddled roof still scarred from WWI French colonial gunfire. Inside, vendors sell everything from silk and spices to swords and sweets; the far end opens dramatically onto the Roman Temple of Jupiter columns.