Unfinished SYRIA AND PRACTICAL JORDAN (continued, p.2) Sunday We have not been able to sleep a little longer and recover from the events of the previous day, because early in the morning the phone rang. For the most part during this trip we always someone phoned the early morning, with the exception of the last day. One day we received a call early this morning when we decided not to go to any tour and to lie in bed and swim in the pool. This is very annoying. I remember that very early morning call happened at 5:45, and the later at 7:30. And once we received a call by mistake, due to the fact that we have mixed with members of another group of tourists! When we drove to Damascus, we were struck by the abundance of satellite dishes that loomed over the messy pile of buildings made of concrete. Most of the houses were built illegally, and now they either have not yet finished, or have already fallen by half. But at each house has its own satellite dish. Most likely the reason so many houses here are still not completed, lies in the fact that in Syria, taxes are levied only with the owners fully completed buildings. Therefore, people living in the unfinished, nedokrashennyh homes with bare concrete pillars that protrude from the flat roofs. Obtained clear allusion to the fact that there must be another floor, so once again confirmed the status of "unfinished" and "not subject to taxation" of the building. A large number of unfinished houses can be seen in the countryside. All this is due to Islamic laws. Islam does not allow to put money in the bank at interest, or open a savings account (this is called "usury"), so people see their property as a way of investing money. The investor buys the house, in most cases, unfinished, and sold it a year later, still not completed the construction, but for a great price. It is obvious that the country's continuing construction boom, and most of it is pointless to built up piles of unfinished gray apartment buildings, shopping centers and very small buildings. Because of them, the countryside does not look very pretty, especially when combined with large piles of debris, which occur quite frequently. In general, the road to Damascus was not very attractive, although still interesting. Church of St. Peter's we were surprised to see that most women wear the usual jeans and trousers. Yet we are surprised by the absence of men in the Arab dishdashah. Men here wear pants, shirts and jackets. I saw one man in a robe, but later learned that it was the priest. Damascus - one of the oldest cities in the world, people live in it for over 4000 years. We stopped near a wall, which bore the traces of the restoration of the Roman, Byzantine, Islamic, Ottoman and modern periods. The whole history of the past 2000 years in one place! Passing through the gate, we got out of Midhat Pasha, who is mentioned in the Bible (mentioned under the name Direct in "Acts of the Apostles, Chapter 9, approx. Perevi.). Since then she has changed, but not much. We passed through the Christian Quarter and visited the house of Ananias, where Peter went after his religious conversion, which occurred on the road to Damascus. Now in this house a museum, but a little to one side is a little church, which seats barely enough ten believers. Here is what I call "direct touch to the story! Umayyad Mosque Walking the streets of Damascus, we have never faced the bustle of the city, except for extremely active boys - shoe polisher. This is so much different than what we face in Morocco and Egypt. Many stopped and welcomed us, seeing that we are guests on Syrian soil, and wherever we went, we were accompanied by a kind smile. Even our guide told us that Syria is the third country in the world in safety. On the Internet, there was no confirmation of his words (I have found that, according to recent research, Norway is the third, yielding New Zealand and Denmark), but Syria is working quite eerie and ever-present secret police, so that the grief over the pickpockets, robbers. We also noticed a few women dressed in black and another pair in a burqa, which surprised us because we were told that the Syrian women are not accepted to wear such clothing (veil, of course, is not an Islamic garment, but rather a cultural tradition). Apparently, these women in black (so-called "crows") fled Iraq or have come here from Iran. At the airport we saw a large group of Iranian tourists who arrived in Syria to look at the important places for Muslims. Refugees from Iraq is pretty much damaged the economy. Because of them, increased unemployment and increased home prices, so they are not very fond of. The interior of the Umayyad Mosque One of the joys of travel is to become familiar with food and drink local food. In Syria, the coffee is the most popular drink. We stopped a snack in the cafe, ordered coffee and tea. In the back room, where we decided to sit down, we had to wade through the smoke from hookahs and a very strong cigarettes. Coffee proved to be not easy. In order to cope with a small cup of this drink, cooked in local style, it was necessary to add to it a fair amount of sugar and a good hold your breath. The taste was a thick, grainy and spicy. One cup we hardly defeated four together. Tea on the background of this "fusion" was just a nectar. The cafe does not sell alcohol, but on the other hand, with so much smoke and a surprisingly strong coffee, whom he did need it! We left the cafe and went to walk the streets, admiring the mosques and churches, the oldest of which were built by the Romans. It was curious to know what Christianity and Islam for many years were relatively peaceful coexistence. In Damascus, first, of course, were the local religion, then its focus has extended Jewish community, then the Roman gods, Christianity, and, of course, Islam. Now here is mainly dominated by Islam, but, in addition to many mosques are a large number of Christian churches. Of course, these churches did not remain without attention of parishioners. As our guide said: "We all - especially the Syrians, and only then Muslims or Christians." Channel in Damascus is the influence of several religions manifested itself in the Umayyad Mosque, one of the biggest and largest in the world. Place where now there is a mosque in 2000 occupied the temple Haddad, Aramaic god of rain and fertility. The Romans made a temple of Jupiter. After the Romans decided to adopt Christianity, the temple was dedicated to John the Baptist. In the VII century, Arab armies, the soldiers who professed Islam, defeated the Byzantines, and the huge building was divided into two parts: the Christian church on one side and a Muslim mosque on the other. What a wonderful solution to the problem! Today this place is considered one of the most sacred to Muslims. Rove is very interesting. We were able to walk to the middle of the building and at the same time noticed that women were only in the rear of the mosque. The tomb of John the Baptist, who is considered a prophet as the Muslims and the Christians, is his head that commanded Herod to cut off (referring to Herod Antipas, tetrarch, one of four equal rulers of Galilee, ca. Perevi.). Also next to the mosque is the tomb of Salah ad-Din (sultan of Egypt and Syria in the second half of the XII century, ca. Perevi.), Which united the Arabs against the Crusaders. Arabs called conquerors "Franks", due to the fact that most of them were French. Salah al-Din defeated the Crusaders and became known not only for his talents a warrior, strategist, and politician, but also because of his generosity and, as the Crusaders earned the respect of many, including King Richard the Lionheart. The future Sultan was born in Tikrit in modern Iraq, in the same city, the birthplace of Saddam Hussein. It is not surprising that Saddam liked to compare himself to Salah ad-Din! More details about Salah al-Din - a little later. Start material: Read more:
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