Share

Apr 04, 2022

Traditional Syrian houses - a tourist destination

Traditional Syrian houses - a tourist destination

Old Damascus is the most prominent example to explain what our title means: traditional Syrian houses turned into tourist real estate; Old Damascus is the region with the most traditional houses that are still steadfast with all the elements of beauty and heritage, and it is an area that the state protects to preserve its heritage, which has been classified as a “World Heritage” by UNESCO.

Why do the people of the traditional Syrian houses think of turning it into a restaurant or a hotel?

This has many factors, let's review some of them here:

1- The Old Damascus area is very attractive to tourists, as it is distributed between narrow alleys overlooking the balconies of traditional Syrian houses on these alleys, and some bushes are scattered in these alleys, which makes passing between them a special pleasure. All the walls and balconies of the houses are also traditional and built of wood, mud and some stone, and when you pass through them, you pass through a living history in which its people still live.

2- In old Damascus, there are old, popular markets with traditional crafts, as well as markets for spices, silver and souvenirs, which increase the attraction of tourists, especially since the passage to these markets is between traditional Syrian houses.

3- The human movement in this area is very crowded, so people come to it from all places other than those who live in it.
 

4- There are also factors related to the restoration of traditional Syrian houses. The state stipulated that the restoration and return of any traditional house be done with the same materials used in its original construction. You may ask, what is the problem?

- The restoration of traditional Syrian houses is very expensive, as the infrastructure is very old, it is not possible to dig a way to renew the sanitary or electrical installations in your house there, as well as strengthening the walls is an expensive matter. The project of renovating the building just for housing is a difficult matter for many, while investors found a golden opportunity in it. How? I will definitely tell you:

- Some owners of traditional Syrian houses or businessmen who bought traditional houses in old Damascus to allocate a large amount to restore and rehabilitate the old house in accordance with the conditions of preserving heritage, but they found that it is better to invest this property for tourist purposes in an area that receives hundreds of tourists every day from inside Syria and abroad.

Thus, the first restaurant appeared in a traditional Damascus house to surprise everyone and increase the attractiveness of the area, followed by a second and third restaurant. It also increased the attractiveness of these restaurants by hosting many artistic and musical events and art galleries.

- Regarding the traditional Syrian houses that have been turned into hotels, their projects have begun to appear after restaurants, and the reason is not only that restaurants abound in them and that they are a tourist destination! Rather, the traditional Syrian houses have always been, and still are, rented as an entire house or one room of the house, for families, tourists, students, young men and women, it is a central area of the capital, and renting a room in a traditional house is easy for the owners of the house, especially since the rooms are completely separate from each other.

Thus came the transformation of traditional Syrian houses with many rooms into charming hotels in the middle of the Levantine environment and in the middle of a beloved heritage area.

Among the most famous of these traditional Syrian houses that have been transformed into wonderful restaurants are the first "Piano Bar" restaurant, then "Beit Jabri", "Alyssar" and "Haretna".

Among the most famous traditional Syrian houses that have been converted into hotels are: "Beit Al-Wali" Hotel, "Beit Al-Yasmeen" hotel, "Ancient Bab Touma" hotel.