Damascus: Hidden Treasures of the Old City

Description

Damascus, reputed to be the oldest continually inhabited city on earth, has enjoyed eras of immense power and great and artistic achievement. Alongside some of the most magnificent architecture in the Islamic world, the city also boasts a heritage of fairytale palaces and sumptuous private houses now threatened by neglect. Brigid Keenan and Tim Beddow have set out to record these architectural gems and to raise the awareness of the outside world to the plight of the old city of Damascus before it is too late. The text first describes Damascus through the ages and then continues with an account of daily life and concludes with descriptions of the houses and the people who built and lived in them. The accompanying illustrations are photographs not only of facades, courtyards, alleyways and fountains, but of breathtaking interiors with exquisite details in stone, wood, paint, marble, plaster, glass and mother-of-pearl. The whole forms an elegiac plea for the preservation of the heart of this historic ancient capital.

Tim Beddow is a widely published photographer. His images were used in Safari Style, also published by Thames & Hudson. Brigid Keenan is a freelance journalist who lived in Damascus for over five years.