Damascus

Like many capital cities in developing countries, Damascus is a sprawling metropolis thronging with people, pollution, traffic and urban developments. However, it can also lay claim to being the oldest continually habited city in the world, and there are many examples of great antiquity and beauty. Though each successive civilisation built on the foundations of the one that preceded it and therefore "there is little physical evidence of the earliest stages of [the city's] development, ... excavaction in the Old City has nevertheless revealed evidence of settlement udring the fourth millenium BC" [Footprint Syria and Lebanon].
We've been ambling around the Old City for a few days now, and it's clear that though it's still a vibrant, dynamic, ever-changing place, it still retains signs of its long history. Surrounded by fragments of the old city walls, it's a completely different world to the rest of the capital. Narrow alleys, bustling ancient souks and beautiful monuments, I hope I've done justice to its unique atmosphere with these pictures.