La lingua di Cristo

gennaio 21st, 2011 | Posted by dokk in Siria - (9 Comments)

Jesus spoke aramaic, one of the oldest languages of the world, whose alphabet follows directly from the Phoenician one.
Today is a dead language. Except in Maaloula and in two other surrounding villages.

In this small town about fifty kilometers from Damascus, of Melkite Christian confession, seems to have been the miracle of Santa Tecla: the woman, ran away from his family who did not approve her conversion to Christianity, was about to be captured by his father’s soldiers. Reached the top of a mountain she began to pray; so the mountain opened, allowing her to take refuge. The saint’s relics are kept in the homonymous monastery.

Try to imagine you hear ancient-sounding words, words that Jesus spoke two thousand years ago…

Maaloula

Maaloula

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La capitale piu’ antica del mondo

gennaio 18th, 2011 | Posted by dokk in Siria - (1 Comments)

Damascus is oldest continously inhabitated capital of the world.
You breath a totally relaxed atmosphere, despite the traffic jam and the crowd: shops open not before 10; people stop many times for a the or to smoke a shisha (narghile), as they don’t have other business.
The old city, enclosed in a circle of walls and ancient houses, is a kaleidoscope of lives, of faces of syrians and tourists and  business men, of situations and traditional and fascinating activities.
In this capital with millions of inhabitants, on sides of electronic and not-original software shops, there are carpenters, copper-plates engravers, leather craft workers.
Small hand carts beyond luxury suvs parked on street sides.
And dirty workers, students, women with kids and well dressed men sit on plastic tables in a foul kiosk.

View of che city from mount Qasiun

View of che city from mount Qasiun

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