Syria - 2008


	Syria (2008)

Photos par année (nombre) : 2008 (275)


Aerial view near Damascus	The welcoming tea and coffee	Busy suburban hills of Damascus	The start of the old city	Entrance of the Souq Al Hamadiyeh	Busy evening in the Souq Al Hamadiyeh	A very popular traditional ice cream shop	The kid wants ice cream	Ice cream caf	Coming out of the Souq

Impressive Omayyad Mosque	Chatting on the square in front of the mosque	Layers of history in this old Souq	Minaret of the Omayyad Mosque	Walls of the Omayyad Mosque	Inside a shop of the old souq	Men smoking the waterpipe at a caf	Magnificent old house converted into a restaurant	Ancient splendours in this stylish restaurant	Beautiful walll decorations in another part of the restaurant

Passages near the Omayyad Mosque	Omayyad Mosque at night	In the Omayyad Mosque courtyard	Leaving Damascus between barren lands and hills	The arid lands north of Damascus	An isolated house	Barren lands along the road	Rocky hills north of Damascus	Snowy tops of the Mount Lebanon Range	A shepherd and his flock by the roadside

Rural lanscapes	First views of the Krak des Chevaliers fortress	An onlooker as we approach the Krak	Panoramic view of the Krak des Chevaliers	Entrance of the Krak	Arabic inscriptions at the entrance	A Syrian watches us as we enter the castle	Inside the castle stronghold	The amazing architecture of the XIth century	View of the neighbouring village

Castle on top of the hill	The moat and the central stronghold	Shapes and lights	Try conquering this castle!	The stables	The central fortress and the moat	Stunning heart of the castle	Views from the castle	View into the fortress	An impression of the size and position of the centerpiece

Stunning residential Princess Tower	Inside the castle	Arches of architectural genius	Impressive heights and state of conservation	Views onto the inside	Hordes of schoolchildren invading the castle	A classic view of the ultimate Crusader castle	Last view of the day	A child and his donkeys	Beautiful hills with fruit trees flowering

Small port of Tartus on the Mediterranean Sea	Tartus Cathedral	Getting closer to the Marqab Castle	Full length of Marqab Castle	Here we are at Marqab Castle	Entrance of Marqab Castle	Sea of greenhouses	Marqab Castle gate	Spring blossom	A symbol on a door frame

Nature and architecture on top of the hill	Inside the Marqab Castle	Former church inside the castle	Remains of the ancient fortifications of Marqab	A nice village on the way to Masyaf	The Masyaf citadel protected the city	Atrium of Apamea Cham Hotel	View of the water wheels from our hotel room	The norias at night	Norias and the mosque at night

The beautiful traditional water wheels make Hama's fame	Local pastries	Norias from the restaurant	Water wheel magic	Morning has risen, and the view is still so stunning	A last look at the norias from our room	View of Hama along the Orontes River	My sainthood is revealed at breakfast	A man passes by	Minaret of the old mosque of Hama

Our Apamea Cham Hotel	The dam and water wheels	Other water wheels in town	Views of Hama	Cultivated terraces on the hills	A different view of the nice village from the previous day	Saladdin castle	The impressive location of the castle	Impressive defensive tower	Man is dwarved by this medieval construction

On the way to the main entrance	Northern protective towers	Inside the castle, an old church	Daunting size of Saladdin Castle	View from a tower	Inside the castle grounds	Immense rooms	More fortifications	The castle and forest beyond	Also can't get enough of this castle

The path across the cliff	A huge reservoir	The beautiful reinforced cliff	A man collecting wood	The narrow road between cliffs	A fun-loving group visiting the castle	The amazing location	A view of the perched supply bridge	Driving on	Plains and mountains

Colourful local truck	Inside a beautiful restored Ottoman-style house	Splendid setting for a hotel	Amazing suite	An impressive room for lovers	The environment is stunning	View of our room	Narrow street out of our hotel	A traditional reception room	The impressive restaurant courtyard

Beauty all around us	Small street out of the old city	Kids playing football in the old city square	Narrow passageways abound in the old city	Sunset behind a mosque minaret	Old mosque of Aleppo	Activity in front of the Omayyad Mosque	City center view of the citadel	Entrance to a khan, area for merchants	First view of the steep citadel

The fortified mountain	Historical greatness	Children take possession of their history	A sight that impressed us, the Aleppo Citadel	We'll enter the citadel the next day	Entering an old khan	Khan specialising in metal objects	Wandering in this labyrinth	Getting lost in the great souq of Aleppo	More streets in the souq

A soap shop	An ornate mound of spices	A streetside shoe repair shop	Bucket for the old house well	Dinner at our Dar Zamaria	Passageway to our hotel	Aleppo's old city awakes	Bread in the morning	Well restorated buildings opposite the mosque	A man snoozes still

Emblem of this souq	Beauty of the souq's entrance	Quiet streets of the souq	Dark streets in the souq's morning	Inside a small mosque opposite the citadel	A good view of the citadel's entrance	The Aleppo Citadel awaits us	Entering the citadel	The main entrance of the citadel	The city from the citadel's bridge

Front gate	Entering the citadel	Inside the citadel's streets	Aleppo city center	Aleppo back to Damascus - Citadel	View from the citadel onto surrounding monuments	Inside the citadel	Satellite dishes and roofs of Aleppo	Several mosques of Aleppo	Streets in the citadel

An Islamic school's courtyard	Inside the Omayyad Mosque	Courtyard of the mosque	Elegance of the Omayyad architecture	Worshippers cross the courtyard	Omayyad mosque courtyard and minaret	Inside the Omayyad mosque	Working metal in the old city	Another metal worker	Fortress atop Apamea

Fortress from the bottom of the hill	Inside the Apamea Museum	Discovering the splendid alley of columns in Apamea	Hard to imagine the 500,000-strong ancient city	Ancient columns of Apamea	The alley of columns continues in a nice setting	Columns as far as the eye can see	The best preserved part of the city	Looking back on the site's grandeur	Standing behind the columns

The majestic Apamea site	Shepherds in the Apamea ruins	Aleppo back 2 - Apamea	An interesting roving horde of caterpillars in the ruins	Mosque of Homs	Desert road to Palmyra	Road to Palmyra... and Baghdad	Entering into the Baal temple compound	Towering columns of the Baal temple	Corinthian elegance

The splendid center of the Baal temple	Light shines on the Baal temple	Looking at the outer walls of the Baal temple compound	The clouds play up on the Baal temple	An impression of the size of the site	Contemplating the ruins	A palm tree, Palmyra's namesake	Art and architecture	The Palmyra site and the 17th century castle in the back	Entering the great column alley of Palmyra

A sandstorm arrives on the ancient site	Sand blows on the camel in Palmyra	The camel rises	The sand hides the view from the alley of columns	Looking at the superb entrance	Palmyra's amphitheater	Paolo passes by on the camel	Tetrapylon of Palmyra	Looking back at the beautiful rows of columns	Walking down magnificent streets

A small scarab reminds me of the Egyptian civilization	Engravings at the Palmyra Museum	Dates in front of a restaurant	Temple of Baal-Shamin	Palmyra site in the sandstorm	The wind of the sandstorm blows	Yellow light on the Temple of Baal-Shamin	Inside the Temple of Baal-Shamin	Ancient tomb sites	A shepherd and his flock rest from the sandstorm near the tombs

Local sheep	A towering tomb	Hill of tombs	Pounding the ice cream	The ever impressive Omayyad Mosque	Near the souq - almost a theatre stage	The old feel looks great here	Local life beneath the walls of the citadel	Elaborate cloths in the souq	Fabrics in the souq

View of the inside of the reconverted old house	View of the neighbouring hills	Damascus National Museum	Old houses near the fortress	Northern facade of the Omayyad Mosque	Inside the courtyard of the mosque	Women entering to pray	Groups gather in the courtyard	Classic Islamic architecture beauty	Main inner facade of the mosque

Elaborate mosaics	The sun shines inside the mosque	Peace of the inner court	Palm trees and a city	More mosaics along the corridors	Dome of the mosque	Stained glass windows	Gathering to hear the imam	Inside the Omayyad mosque	An inner courtyard near the old souq

Side street in the great souq	Azem Palace entrance	Freshly baked pastries	Azem Art school	Courtyard converted into a shop