Damascus to Seydnaya MICRO EXPERIENCE
From Damascus (you can see Kasioun mountain) going up to Sednaya in these nice micro or minibuses called micro.
Embarking in one of those is really interesting and plenty of meaning, especially for a person who comes from the glorious and great western civilization. The reason behind my joy going in those is the amount of close and direct sharing you have with the others riding in with you (a total of 15 passengers).
1. First, the driver waits until the minibus is full before leaving. Usually for the longer trips such as Damascus-Seydnaya (45 minutes, uphill)
2. Breaking the ice. Anytime on the way up, you will have to pay the fare. It's to the person who sits beside you that you will have to pay, he will manage to get the money from the people in the back seat and those in the back seat get it from behind and so on until the person in the middle gets all the money. He will also have to give everyone's change. This is pretty amazing to see how people that don't know each other exchange for a common cause. The role of money related collecting/managing is given to the first who tries to get his change from the money he paid (it's cheap: only 35 Syrian Pounds Damascus-Seydnaya). When he is done he gives the total to the driver who is hassling his way in the traffic. The driver ONLY drives, let's say that he has enough to deal with in a city like Damascus where cars are separated by few centimeters and where everyone drives like CRAZY.
3. From your first contact (paying the fare), a link would have been made with AT LEAST one of the passengers of the minibus. Everyone is curious in Syria, but so friendly, especially with foreigners. That person you just met would invite you to his house for dinner or for a cup of tea or for a walk, he would try helping you in any way he can. It is so True, real and just unconceivable for a westerner.
4. Once you get at destination, you are someone else... one who goes Syria should imperatively try the micro experience.
For more explicit video of the micro experience check:
Sergius and Bacchus Monastery, Maalula - Syria
Subtitles in EN - Αφήγηση στα ελληνικά
One of the oldest surviving monasteries in Syria. It was built on the site of a pagan temple.
The Lord's prayer is said by Father Tufiq.
Είναι ένα από τα παλαιότερα μοναστήρια στη Συρία. Χτίστηκε στη θέση ενός ειδωλολατρικού ναού.
Το Πάτερ ημών λέγεται από τον πατέρα Tufiq.
Palmyra (Tadmor تدمر in Syria) at sunset and sunrise
Palmyra (Tadmor تدمر in Syria) at sunset and sunrise...
Palmyra was in ancient times an important city of central Syria, located in an oasis 215 km northeast of Damascus and 120 km southwest of the Euphrates. It has long been a vital caravan city for travellers crossing the Syrian desert and was known as the Bride of the Desert. The earliest documented reference to the city by its pre-Semitic name Tadmor, Tadmur or Tudmur, is recorded in Babylonian tablets found in Mari.
In the mid-first century, Palmyra, a wealthy and elegant city located along the caravan routes linking Persia with the Mediterranean ports of Roman Syria and Phoenicia, came under Roman control. During the following period of great prosperity, the Aramaean inhabitants of Palmyra adopted customs and modes of dress from both the Iranian Parthian world to the east and the Graeco-Roman west.
Palmyra was made part of the Roman province of Syria during the reign of Tiberius. It steadily grew in importance as a trade route linking Persia, India, China, and the Roman empire. In 129, Hadrian visited the city and was so enthralled by it that he proclaimed it a free city and renamed it Palmyra Hadriana. Beginning in 212, Palmyra's trade diminished as the Sassanids occupied the mouth of the Tigris and the Euphrates. Septimius Odaenathus, a Prince of Palmyra, was appointed by Valerian as the governor of the province of Syria. After Valerian was captured by the Sassanids and died in captivity in Bishapur, Odaenathus campaigned as far as Ctesiphon (near modern-day Baghdad) for revenge, invading the city twice. When Odaenathus was assassinated by his nephew Maconius, his wife Septimia Zenobia took power, ruling Palmyra on the behalf of her son, Vabalathus. Zenobia rebelled against Roman authority with the help of Cassius Longinus and took over Bosra and lands as far to the west as Egypt, establishing the short-lived Palmyrene Empire. Next, she attempted to take Antioch to the north. In 272, the Roman Emperor Aurelian finally retaliated and captured her and brought her back to Rome. He paraded her in golden chains but allowed her to retire to a villa in Tibur, where she took an active part in society for years. This rebellion greatly disturbed Rome, and so Palmyra was forced by the empire to become a military base for the Roman legions. Diocletian expanded it to harbor even more legions and walled it in to try and save it from the Sassanid threat. The Byzantine period only resulted in the building of a few churches and much of the city was in ruin.
Syria Day1 Maalula
Syria travel photography by Ian M Butterfield
Maaloula, Syria (2014/06/01) معلولا، سوريا
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One of oldest Church in Damascus
Al Zeitoun Church is considered to be one of the oldest churches in Damascus City - SYRIA, it is the Greek Catholic Cathedral of the Middle East as well. A great peaceful place to be in
Sydnaya
A video of the Convent of our Lady in Sydnaya.
RARE EXCLUSIVE video of BUTYRKA PRISON located -central Moscow, Russia
Election at Butyrka prison is a prison in central Moscow, Russia. It was the central. The building was erected in 1879 near the Butyrsk gate (Бутырская застава, or Butyrskaya zastava)
TVDATA.tv worldwide licensing rights via Russian Stock Footage Library tape: 282
Turkey-Syria 2005 #10
Some more Byzantine mosaics from Istanbul.
Driving: Lebanon Road Trip: From Beirut To Tarchich - With Music (2017-01-15)
From Beirut Chevroleh through Dora Highway, Nahr el Mot, The Maten Fast road, Baabdat, Mar Moussa, El Douwar, El Choueir, Dhour el Choueir, Bolonia, El Mrouj, Aintoura el Maten, Majdel Tarchich, Tarchih.
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