Hama in 48 hours

In a two days holiday my friends and I decided to make a tour in the central city of Hama, two hundred km from Damascus and a two hours drive to the north. We started early at seven o’clock and arrived in Hama at 09.00, entered a cafeteria looking over the beautiful Orontes River and had our breakfast: local sweets made of fresh sheep milk and cream.

After breakfast we started touring the city beginning by the beautiful norias (water wheels), a Hellenistic device used to irrigate upper lands of the city from the River Orontes.

Then we visited Khan Rustom Pasha which, a few months ago, was transferred into a handicrafts bazaar, and, not far from it, Khan Asa’ad Pasha, from which we entered into the Long Souk (or alMansour Souk), a 600 year old roofed bazaar with more than 200 shops specialized in selling local products of Bedouin style as well as clothes, fabrics.. Etc. This souk still has the remains of several Ottoman khans. Five minutes walk from the souk we started walking in the alleys of the Old City stretching along River Orontes. There we visited alAzem Palace, a 200 years old mansion of pompous decorations and two levels containing traditional parts of an Ottoman palace; Salamlek, Haramlek and Khadamlek that is, the men, women and servants sections, and the water fountains, and the magnolia trees decorating the spacious courtyards. Until a few years ago this palace was the museum of Hama until a modern Museum was built as an archaeological museum, and the palace was transferred into a folklore and traditions museum.

At two O’clock we felt a little bit hungry, looked around and found many attractive restaurants. We entered one looking at the river and the norias and had a delicious meal of local foods made of fresh meat and vegetables.

Not far from the restaurant we climbed the hill of the citadel of the city which looks over the city from all directions, on top of which the ministry of tourism built a recreational park and several restaurants and cafes. From the top we could see the beautiful minarets of the historical mosques of the city; the Grand Mosque and alNouri Mosque built beside three main norias on the river.

From the top we could also see the domes of Ottoman hammams, bath houses, like Hammam al-Sultan, al- Ubaisi, al-ASa’adia, and al-Muayadia. We spent a few hours on the hill enjoying the panoramic view of the city and the fresh breeze of autumn.

After an interesting day of touring in the city we had several choices of hotels to spend the night in. There is a five star Afamia al-Cham hotel, bearing the name of one of the most important historical sites in Syria, in addition to two four star hotels and several three and two star hotels which suit the budgets of all classes of tourists.

The name of Afamia al-Cham hotel encouraged us to spend the next day in Apamea. We started early, had our breakfast in the hotel and drove west along a highway on the road to Apamea.

Apamea:

In the center of Syria and west of the city of Hama, over a plateau looking at the vast Ghab plain, life is running again in the historic city of Apamea, or as local people call it Afamia, in which excavations have revealed historical sites and civilized monuments that surpass those of Palmyra. In the fifth century A.D. Afamia was the capital of the second Syrian region.

Administratively Apamea is a district of the governorate of Hama, and it is linked with it by a 60km highway. On the road to Apamea we passed across Qalaat Sheizar, 25km from Hama, an old defensive fort at the top of a hill on the banks of River Orontes which we explored in one hour time.

From Sheizar we drove 35km to Apamea, a collection of amazing structures of captivating architecture dispersed on a green plain. It is a legendary city defying time.

Afamia is rich in elements that help rate it as a unique city in terms of architecture and civil arts. Its colonnade is one of the longest streets of old cities. It is 2000m long and 37.5m wide with two arcades and 400 columns with Corinthian capitals standing defiantly on both sides.

The street was the widest in old cities. In addition to this street Apamea has several temples, palaces and public baths, each of them has its own artistic value. All of them are surrounded by the main wall, 6km long. The theater of Apamea is larger than that of Palmyra and can accommodate 3000 spectators. It has a facade of 145m long, considered one of the magnificent Roman theaters in the region after that of Bosra. Apamea is an open city, something like a museum in the open air so you can visit it and the acropolis (the citadel) called Qalaat alMudiq free of charge. All you have to pay is the fee of the museum.

The Museum:

Out of the wall we visited the museum of mosaics. It is originally an Ottoman khan transferred into a museum to accommodate dozens of mosaic boards discovered in the  Roman and Byzantine baths and churches in the city. It was opened in 1982 to become the first in kind specialized in Roman and Byzantine mosaics in the Middle East.

The khan itself is a beautiful mansion called Pilgrims Khan built in the 16th century over an area of 7000 sqm with a spacious court yard surrounded by rooms and large halls.

A tourist can have his lunch among the columns or in one of the restaurants in the neighboring new city, or can continue his tour to the summer resort of Abu Qbeis where he can find beautiful restaurants among the trees of a mountainous forest. This is what we did. To visit Hama and Afamia a tourists can take a pullman from Harasta terminal. It takes two hours and a half to Hama for 175 SP. (4 US$) or can hire a car from any authorized car-rental office. He can also enjoy a train ride from alQadam station, but it takes a longer time to arrive in Hama.

Haifaa Mafalani