Christian Quarter and Ancient Churches
Explore the ancient Christian quarter of Damascus, one of the oldest Christian communities in the world, where churches, convents, and traditional houses maintain the faith of a community established here since the first century CE.
- 1
Chapel of Ananias
Visit the underground Chapel of Ananias, the house-church of the disciple who restored Pauls sight after his conversion on the road to Damascus, the small vaulted room beneath the street level preserved from the Roman-era building where this pivotal event in Christian history occurred.
- 2
Greek Orthodox Cathedral
See the Greek Orthodox Cathedral of the Dormition, the principal church of the Antiochian Orthodox Patriarchate, the ancient Christian institution tracing its origins to the Apostolic age and maintaining its cathedral in the Damascus Christian quarter.
- 3
Syriac Christian Churches
Visit the Syriac Christian churches of Damascus where the ancient liturgical language of Aramaic continues in worship, the Syrian Christian communities maintaining some of the oldest continuous Christian traditions in existence in this city where Christianity was first preached.
- 4
Traditional Quarter Streets
Walk the narrow lanes of the Bab Touma quarter where traditional Damascene houses with their hidden courtyard gardens open behind blank exterior walls, the domestic architecture of a Christian community living in harmony with their Muslim neighbors for fourteen centuries.
- 5
Convent of Our Lady
Visit one of the Damascus convents where Christian nuns maintain the contemplative life in the ancient city, the Syrian and Catholic religious women keeping their communities alive through war and displacement in the holy city.
- 6
Living Community
Meet the Christian families of Damascus who have maintained their faith and community through centuries of Ottoman rule, French mandate, independence, and the trials of the civil war, the ancient Christian community of this first Christian city still alive.