Damascus Shopping

by siaki68
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Souq al-Hamidiyya

Souq al-Hamidiyya is the place to buy cheap souvenirs. Keep in mind that in most cases quality is not always proportional to the prices, so never accept the first price and always bargain. Yet, this is the only place where you can find panties that can play music and sing! Visit souq Khayyatin to the south for clothes, souq al-Bzouriyya for jewellery and perfumes and souq al-Attarine for spices and coffee.

by call_me_rhia
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Theme: Other


	Eva's place: beautiful paintings and more

on January 25, 2003

bad pic of an otherwise
beautiful painting

It's a very tiny shop... easy to miss as it seems to sell only junk... and then, if you look closely... you'll see that it also sells incredible prints and paintings. It's a blink and you miss kind of place - full of unexpected treasuries

Paintings with arabic hunting scenes or pastoral life. Some have only one subject, others several little ones

about 15 dollars for those with only one subject and painted with a lot of gold

Theme: Local Craft

Address: nofara street

Phone: 5444093

Directions: very near the omayyad palace restaurant, in the old town


	Familly Inn: Everyday things-Super Market

Updated By anastasia-t

on November 16, 2004

It is one of the two super markets in Damascus.You can find food,cleaning things,home things.Large variety from western products.It is good to know that it exists, especially if your local "bakalye" doesn't satisfy your needs.

Prices are better from City Mall.

Theme: Food and Drink

Address: Mezzeh Autostrad

Directions: Near Syriatel at Mezzeh Autostrad.If you take a taxi, and you say "Mezzeh Autostrad familly" usually they understand,if no, add the word syriatel and you are definetely there!!!


	George Dabdoub: Oriental carpets

By siaki68

on April 28, 2006

by siaki68
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George Dabdoub

If you are interesting in carpets, this is one of the places to be. Quality is excellent and prices are reasonable. It is also a good place to buy jewellery and inlaid boxes. Located next to Azem Palace it is impossible to miss it.

Theme: Local Craft


	Handicraft Market: Great Paintings

By aqazi

on April 19, 2004

by aqazi
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I hate shopping but I do like buying paintings from my travels. I bought quite a few in Damascus at the hanicraft market near the museum. The place doesn't look like it gets very busy but anywhere there was this place that sold paintings by local students.

I was mostly interested in the contemporary islamic art of which there were many to choose from. They are all proudly hung up around my appartment and people always ask where I got them from. Considering how much they were I wish I'd bought many more! The ones they sell in Paris and London are horrendously expensive.

Of course you have to haggle, but please be fair. Pay what you think a product, good or service is worth, not how much you can haggle your way down to. I paid between $10US and $30US dollars per painting and came away with about 5.

Theme: Art


	Kahwagi carpentry studio: Wood doors in Damascus

By aidadalati

on September 22, 2006

Yasser Kahwagi is a great artist and a top carpenter. His studio is next to Al Mamluka Hotel in Bab Tuma. The Studio stands in the courtyard of an old Damascus house and you can not see the great beds and closets of walnut inlayed with mother of pearl that he makes unless you come with an introduction so please use my name because he really deserves your attention.

Do not go to any one else because he is the source. Mother of pearl in walnut beds with great head boards, closets to match. Doors to order

He is super honest. what goes for $3000 a closet on the streets he sells for $1400
Beds around 900 US

Theme: Home Furnishing

Address: Bakri Public bath street near Al Mamluka hotel

Phone: 094765449

Directions: Bab Tuma circle, follow stone street in the direction of the bath, it is about a block and a half in from the bath house

Website: http://damascushouse.halfmoonnetworks.com/

Other Contact: www.aidadalati.com


	Souq Al-Bzourieh: Nice Old Souq

By Q8Traveler

on September 21, 2004

by Q8Traveler
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I Like to walk in this Souq and buy a medicinal herbs for my Mother ...

In the middle of this souq stands a bath (one of the two hundred public baths) which has been in continuous use from the twelfth century. Here, too is the celebrated khan of As'ad Pasha built by the owner of al-Azem Palace in the mid-nineteenth century; it is now being converted into a hotel.

Another little souq branches out of al-Bzourieh; this is the Goldsmiths "Market, where an endless variety of hand-made jewellery is sold; the southern entrance to the Omayyad Mosque overlooks this glittering little souq

famous for its quaint little fruit, medicinal herbs, and confectionery.

Theme: Food and Drink

Directions: Extends between Souq Midhat Pasha and the Omayyad Mosque


	Souq al-Hamidiyeh: Ottoman Sultan Abdul-Hamid Souq

Updated By Q8Traveler

on September 21, 2004

by Q8Traveler
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Souq Alhamediyah:
It dates back to 1863, to the rule of the Ottoman Sultan Abdul-Hamid, after whom the souq was called. It is covered with high iron vaulting, so old that sun rays filter through it into the darkness of the souq.

The shops here sell everything from tissues to leather-work, from sweets and ice-cream to exquisite handmade brocades, mosaic, and copper inlaid with silver.

Theme: Antiques

Address: Famous Market

Directions: Follows a straight line from the west(where Bab al-Nasr used to be) to the Omayyad Mosque.


	Tony Stephan’s: Excellent quality, fair prices

By siaki68

on April 28, 2006

by siaki68
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Corinthian columns

My guidebook refers to this shop as an exception to the poor quality shops of Al-Hamidiyya and this is absolutely true.

Don’t miss this shop if you want to buy high quality textiles, jewellery and other items.

Prices are not negotiable but there are fair.

Theme: Local Craft

Address: Located at No 156 in souq al-Hamiddiyya.


	Various: Middle Eastern Carvings

Updated By plexus77

on December 10, 2003

by plexus77
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Local Carvers

In general, wood carving shops are located in and around the souk, mostly on side streets. I do not have any particular vendor in mind, I saw several, but the wood carving was exquisite.

Chairs, tables, i.e. any wood carved item.

Approximately 1/4 the price or even less than you would pay in the US