« Home | Big Brother » | Damascus and Beirut open embassies » | The Lebanese government - details » | New Lebanese government » | SNAP SNAP SNAP: Lebanese leaders have agreed on th... » | Michel Aoun to become Deputy Prime Minister » | Free concert in Damascus TONIGHT (correction!) » | Fly in, fly out » | And we thought it was just the Arab World » | Another close McCain adviser is former CIA directo... » 

Wednesday, July 16, 2008 

The real Damascene house

"Crammed together in narrow alleyways, old Damascene houses provide privacy for their owners with windows that overlook the street from only the second floor upwards. Even then, the windows are covered by a wooden khis – a hand-painted shutter which keeps curious eyes at bay."

"The bedrooms are raised a level above their doors in order to keep in as much warmth as possible during the cold winter nights. The cold air is trapped in the lower space between the door and the step, protecting the bedroom from icy drafts."

Beautiful description by Raed Jabri - the man behind the Jabri House restaurant (no comment!). He was at the forefront of the rush to convert Old City houses into restaurants.

Someone needs to organize that into a Wikipedia article. I wish I had the time!

I'm with you Yazan! But what about copyright issues?

Post a Comment

About me

  • Written by sasa
  • From Damascus, Syria
  • From Damascus to London via Beirut. Based in and out of the central Damascene hamlet of Saroujah. News and feelings from the streets every day. I'm talking rubbish? Leave a comment. Welcome to the information democracy. See below for info about this site.
My profile

Syria News Wire discussion

Syria News Wire - the most comprehensive source of Syrian news on the web

  • The Syria News Wire now provides news for Cafe-Syria. To find out how to get exclusive Syrian news for your site, click here.

Get Syria News Wire EMAIL UPDATES

  • the important stuff: you can cancel any time, your email address wont be used for anything except Syria News Wire updates - this is an ad-free site
  • Enter your email address below to subscribe to The Syria News Wire...


Archives