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Straight Street (Bab Sharqi)

الشارع المستقيم (باب شرقي)

The oldest and most famous street in the Old City of Damascus, following the ancient Roman road, ending at Bab Sharqi, one of the best-preserved of Damascus's historic gates.

Straight Street (mentioned in the Bible, Acts of the Apostles, chapter 9) runs through the heart of the Old City of Damascus from east to west, tracing the path of the main Roman thoroughfare (the decumanus) that once divided the ancient city in two, and was historically known as the "Street of Columns" for the long rows of marble columns that once lined it.

At its eastern end stands Bab Sharqi, one of the seven historic gates of the old city wall, and the only gate to retain its original Roman design of three openings: a large central arch for vehicles and two smaller flanking arches for pedestrians, though the gate's upper section dates to a later medieval reconstruction.

A number of old alleyways branch off Straight Street, leading to other important sites such as the Sayyida Ruqayya Shrine and the historic Christian quarter of Bab Touma, making it a key axis for walking within the walls of the Old City, lined with small shops, traditional Damascene houses, and local cafes.

Today, Straight Street remains one of the most compelling destinations for tourists and researchers interested in the thousands of years of Damascus's history, thanks to the way its historical layers -- from the Roman era to the present day -- overlap in a single place.

For the visitor

Photos

Photos: Dosseman — via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA) · Matson Collection — via Wikimedia Commons (Public domain) · Library of Congress Catalog: http://lccn.loc.gov/2002724980 — via Wikimedia Commons (Public domain) · Bernard Gagnon — via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA) · Bassel Khabbaz — via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA)