Syria

The Damascene House

Nation: Syria National Day: 11.10.00

The house is fully air-conditioned. The living room opens into an enclosed courtyard with a fountain. The fragrance of jasmine and orange blossoms wafts inside. Thick walls insulate; the carefully arranged windows let the light in and keep the heat out. Mosaics adorn the floors. The walls and furniture are decorated with precious inlay. The famous "Straight Street" in Damascus, where the Damascene House can be found today, has been re-created in the Syrian Pavilion.

Damascus was already an old city when Rome was founded; it is said that Damascus had existed for five thousand years. Syria undergoes great efforts to maintain and protect this legacy to humankind. Works on the citadel from Aleppo and Damascus are presented here as examples of this. The second main theme of the exhibit is the rehabilitation and irrigation of the steppe or semi-deserts that make up about half of the area of Syria.