Damascus
Souq al-Harir, the silk market, is one of the old markets of Damascus. It existed in the Roman period, and the market as it stands today was rebuilt by the…
Souq al-Harir, the silk market, is one of the old markets of Damascus. It existed in the Roman period, and the market as it stands today was rebuilt by the Ottoman governor Darwish Pasha in the second half of the sixteenth century. It takes its name from the silk cloth once traded there, still sold today alongside other fabrics. The market lies south-west of the Umayyad Mosque, between Souq al-Hamidiyah and Souq al-Bzouriyah, and Roman stones can still be seen in its construction. Khan al-Harir and the Darwish Pasha foundations are nearby.