DAMASCUS: Iranian pilgrims pray beside Arabs at the 8th-century Umayyad Mosque, one of Islam’s grandest sites. Down a nearby alley, European tourists watch restoration work at an Ottoman-era palace being converted into a hotel. “I’ve not seen such contrast between image and the reality,” said German tourist Anna Kopola, looking at Syrian art on display in a gallery in the capital, Damascus. “Syria is portrayed as a center of terrorism in the West but it’s peaceful and modern.”
While many tourists tend to travel in their droves to see Egypt’s pyramids, tense ties with the West made Syria a no-go zone for decades.
Few people have heard of the magnificent ruins at Dura Europos, a Greco-Roman city dubbed the Pompeii of the desert, or Krak des Chevaliers, among the world’s greatest Crusader castles.
But a rapprochement with the West – Syria this month invited US President Barack Obama to Damascus for talks – and the gradual liberalization of an economy that long shunned foreign input are helping Syria shed its pariah state image.
“Nicolas Sarkozy’s visit last year was a boost,” Antoine Mamarbachi, a tour operator said of the French president.
“Syria is no longer a persona non grata.”
Syria has so far tended to attract visitors from other parts of the Middle East, who are less perturbed by its image and more interested in its beach resorts. Two-thirds of visitors last year were Arab, but promotional campaigns by the state and tour operators over the last year have targeted high-end Europeans.
As the East-West crossroads of the ancient world, Syria has been a trade hub for centuries, attracting European adventurers from Lawrence of Arabia to Freya Stark.
Dura Europos, the ruined walled city above the banks of the Euphrates, produced early examples of Judaic and Christian art. The Umayyad dynasty made Damascus the capital of a Muslim empire that stretched to Spain.
Legend has it that two heads are buried beneath the Ummayad Mosque – those of John the Baptist and Imam Hussein, an early Islamic figure whose killing in 680 AD cemented Shiite-Sunni splits.
But Syria’s modern history has been dominated by its struggle with Israel and Soviet-style policies since the Baath Party’s 1963 coup that reduced it to an economic backwater.
The United States imposed sanctions on Syria in 2004 and the government faces two United Nations investigations, although tensions have eased in recent months and Washington said in June it would appoint an ambassador to Damascus after a four-year hiatus.
In the covered souqs of Old Damascus, Western tourists now shop for Syrian kilims and amble from the tomb of the Mamluk ruler Baibars to courtyard houses-turned-boutique hotels.
Gone are the days when a visitor could wander through the ruins of Palmyra, a classical city that rises like a mirage from the eastern desert, without encountering another soul.
“Syria needs to do more preservation. I was in Lebanon and the level of indiscriminate construction made me never want to go back,” said Swiss tourist Roland Diethelm, who was drinking on a hotel terrace overlooking the ruins at Palmyra.
Repeated wars have left scars on Syria’s neighbor Lebanon but those tourists who do make the journey often combine it with a short drive to Damascus.
Construction across Syria has been chaotic but investors are taking increasing care to preserve the character of Old Damascus and Aleppo, realizing that this is what many Europeans crave.
Opened a year ago, Beit Zaman hotel is a painstakingly restored 300-year-old courtyard house located on Damascus’ Roman-era Straight Street, which is mentioned in the Bible.
The hotel now hosts luxury tourists and special events.
“Our customers appreciate the restoration work we have done and the feel of Old Damascus,” said Beit Zaman spokeswoman Solar Arissian.