Damascus: The Destruction of the Old City

Damascus: The Destruction of the Old City

Yazan Badran, Global Voices

Damascus prides itself on being the oldest continuously inhabited city in the world. The history of Damascus goes back well into 8000 BC. In every corner of its ancient alleys there's a taste of every historical era there was to be found. The city that had withstood everything from earthquakes to invasions for nearly 10 millennia, is now crumbling under the threat of… “Modernism“!

Sasa from the Syria News Wire, compiled a series of posts about the situation of the old city of Damascus, and the efforts taking place for the protection and conservation of the city.

Part one of the series deals with last year's plan to tear down the ancient neighborhood of Al-Amara in order to widen the roads outside the walls of the old city. The plan caused an outrage among Syrians, and protests were organized everywhere until they were quietly dropped, for now.

Shopkeepers were furious at the plans, a Facebook and Blogger campaign was launched. That led to a petition. And eventually journalists got wind of the proposals and it made the international news. Then the bombshell - just months before Damascus began its year as Arab Capital of Culture, UNESCO threatened to withdraw Damascus's World Heritage Site status unless more is done to protect the Old City.

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