Historians believe Damascus was a population center as far back as the seventh millennium BC, but the earliest known records of the city date back to the second millennium BC, when it served as the capital city to an Aramaean principality. The Aramaeans, Semitic nomads, took advantages of the natural irrigation capabilities provided by the Barada River to build a system of canals and tunnels still in use today. Since those ancient times, Damascus has been under the influence of a number of empires: the Persians, the Romans, the Muslim Omayyads, the Ottomans and the Arabs. The Syrians gained independent control of Damascus in 1961, and the city has been under the control of the Baath Arab Socialist Party since 1963.
Today, of the approximately 4 million people living in Damascus, about three-quarters of them are Sunni Muslims. Damascus also has a sizable Christian population, particularly the Syriac and Armenian denominations, and the city is home to several Christian neighborhoods. Other religious and ethnic groups in the population include: Palestinians, Kurds, Druze, Circassions, Shiites and Alawites. Damascus once had a large Jewish population, but most have left in recent decades.
With thousands of years of history behind it, Damascus is home to a number of historical attractions. The Umayyad Mosque, also called the Grand Mosque of Damascus, is one of the most visited sites. One of the largest mosques in the world, the Umayyad Mosque also houses a shrine that is noted for containing both the head of Husayn ibn Ali, a grandson of the prophet Muhammed, as well as the head of Christian figure John the Baptist. The garden outside the mosque contains the resting place of Muslim leader Saladin, who ruled over much of the Middle East in the 12th Century. The seven gates surrounding the old city and the Citadel of Damascus also are popular attractions. The National Museum of Damascus contains collections from pre-classical and classical periods and collections from the Arab Islamic and Byzantine cultures. The museum also houses a reconstructed synagogue from the 2nd Century AD.
Once the sightseeing is done, cafes are a popular way to pass the time in Damascus. Besides drinks, visitors also can enjoy a smoke on a nargileh, a water pipe, and a game of backgammon or chess. Popular shopping destinations include the Tekkiye Suleymaniyye and the streets around the Umayyad Mosque. The nightlife in Damascus is fairly calm. Most of the bars and nightclubs are in the Christian Quarter, although high-end hotels throughout the city also are options for evening entertainment.
Damascus' airport is about 30 kilometers outside of the city and is served by major airlines including KLM, Air France, Lufthansa and British Airways. Rail and ferry are not reliable ways to travel to Damascus. Once in the city, taxis and car services are the most reliable way to get around the city, though walking will be fine for most travelers. The destinations and numbers on the public buses are written in Arabic, so knowledge of the language and alphabet is required to use them.
Spring and autumn are the best times to travel to Damascus in terms of weather, when the humidity is low and temperatures mild. Summers are dry and hot, with average temperatures reaching as high as 37 degrees Celsius or 99 degrees Fahrenheit. Damascus can see temperatures close to freezing in the winter months, with heavy rain and even occasional snow.
