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Ablutions Fountain
In the centre of the Umayyad Mosque courtyard is an odd square-shaped Ablutions Fountain topped by a wooden-canopied pulpit, while flanking it are two old columns that used to hold lamps.
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Khan Asad Pasha
The two noteworthy khans that Hama does possess have long since been pressed into other uses: Khan Asad Pasha (1751), also on Sharia al-Murabet but further south, is now a local Baath Party branch.
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Syrian Catholic Church
Al-Jdeida is home to five major churches, each aligned to a different denomination. Immediately west of the museum is the Syrian Catholic Church, built in 1625 and happy to admit visitors who come knocking.
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Bimarstan Nureddin
Just south of the Souq al-Hamidiyya, the Bimarstan Nureddin was built in the 12th century as a mental hospital and was for centuries renowned in the Arab world as an enlightened medical-treatment centre.
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Bab Kisan
The Old City gate, Bab Kisan, purportedly marks the spot where the disciples lowered St Paul out of a window in a basket one night, so that he could flee from the Jews, having angered them after preaching in the synagogues.
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Jamaa al
Tucked down narrow Sharia al-Nawaeer, the 14th-century Jamaa al-Jedid contains the tomb of Ismat al-Din Khatun, wife of first Nureddin and then his successor Saladin. The richly decorated burial chamber is worth a look.
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Museum
In the big Department of Antiquities building on the main street, Homs Museum contains a rather modest collection of artefacts, from prehistoric to early Islamic, unearthed in the region. Labelling is in Arabic only.
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Souq as
One of the liveliest thoroughfares, with its glittering gold and silver sellers, is Souq as-Silah, running due south from Bab Ziyada (set into the southern wall of Umayyad Mosque), out of which crowds of people continually emerge.
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Prayer Hall
On the southern side of the Umayyad Mosque courtyard is the rectangular Prayer Hall, its three aisles divided by a transept. The hall as seen today is the Ottoman reconstruction that took place after the devastating fire of 1893.
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Fortified Wall
Little remains of the old city of Homs. Its walls and gates were largely demolished in the Ottoman era, although there is a short section of Fortified Wall with a circular corner tower just south of Sharia Shoukri al-Quwatli.
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Army Museum
The Army Museum has a fascinating collection of military hardware from the Bronze Age to the near present. Exhibits range from flint arrowheads to a pile of the twisted remains of planes shot down in the 1973 war with Israel.
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Khan Jakmak
Straight Street is busiest at the western end (Souq Medhat Pasha), where its largely devoted to shops selling textiles and clothes. There are several old khans in this area, their gates still locked at night. Khan Jakmak is one example.
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Dome of the Eagle
At the centre of the Umayyad Mosque Prayer Hall, resting on four great pillars above the transept, is the Dome of the Eagle, so called because it represents the eagles head, while the transept represents the body and the aisles are the wings.
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Dome of the Clocks
The Dome of the Treasury is counterbalanced by a domed structure on the eastern side of the Umayyad Mosque courtyard, built in the 18th century and known as the Dome of the Clocks because its where the mosques clocks used to be kept.
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Minaret of the Bride
There are three minarets in the Umayyad Mosque dating from the original construction, each of which was renovated and restored by the Ayyubids, Mamluks and Ottomans. The one on the northern side, the Minaret of the Bride, is the oldest.
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Atassi Gallery
Damascus premier gallery has a lively programme of regularly changing exhibitions, featuring some of the Middle Easts most respected modern artists, from renowned Aleppan sculptor Abdel Rahman Mouakket to mixed media by Baghdadi-born Ali Talib.
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National Museum of Lattakia
This small museum is housed in a charming old khan near the waterfront. The best of the museum’s displays are inscribed tablets from Ugarit, beautiful jewellery, coins and figurines, ceramics and pottery and a Crusader-era chain-mail suit and swords.
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Chapel Of Ananias
The old cellar is reputedly the house of Ananias, an early Christian disciple who baptised St Paul. The crypt church has multilingual translations of the story of the two disciples, although scholars dispute whether this is Ananias’ actual house.
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Dome of the Treasury
The small octagonal structure on the western side of the Umayyad Mosque courtyard, decorated with intricate 14th-century mosaics and standing on eight recycled Roman columns, is the Dome of the Treasury, once used to keep public funds safe from thieves.
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Roman Arch
Heading east, about two-thirds of the way along Sharia Medhat Pasha – Straight St (Via Recta)– are the remains of a Roman arch. The arch roughly marks the starting point of what’s referred to as the Christian Quarter, although it’s by no means exclusive.
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