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Friday, April 29

Al-Hijaz railway

A train outside the station
Just a train
A vehicle used for repairing
Sultan Adulhamid's wagon from the inside (I wonder about the plastic chairs!)
Inside the station
The Hijaz Railway was originally built to transport pilgrims from the city of Damascus in Syria to the holy city of Madinah in Saudi Arabia. It was completed at the time of Sultan Adullhamid in 1908, but was severely damaged during the First World War (1914-1918) by Lawrence of Arabia and the Arab Revolt. Parts of the Hijaz Railway exist, and some of the sections are still functioning. The minute you step past the main gate of Hijaz Station here in Damascus, you feel that you are in a time fame cut from another era, you are in preserved atmosphere from days gone, different colours of rust, iron, and the air smells Ottoman or East European.

PS. Some of these photos are taken 2 years ago. Unfortunatly, you can not find them now.

posted by Ghalia at 4/29/2005

10 Comments:

  • great post!
    I remember el Hijaz clearly, I especially like drinking from the fountain infront of there. It's good to see it again, especially from the inside

    By Blogger x, at 29/4/05 1:53 AM  

  • wow nice but i find the last pic weired in a station???

    By Blogger M!R@CHK@, at 29/4/05 11:02 AM  

  • that is sad that some of them arent there, b/c they are really niice pictures

    By Blogger Phantom of the Blog, at 29/4/05 4:03 PM  

  • Oh wow!! The last picture shocks me! Stained glass in a train station is Syria.. wallah impressive. Sort of reminds me of the stained glass in the Masjid il Omawi. Absolutely stunning..

    We also have traces of the Hijaz Railway in Jordan. History is the most fascinating thing isn't it?

    By Blogger Roba, at 29/4/05 4:51 PM  

  • Really beautiful pictures...

    By Blogger Catherine, at 29/4/05 7:53 PM  

  • i am really sad that we can not do anything to stop al Hijaz project.
    it's going to destroy the whole city center and it would be impossible to reach city center.

    the mall will be so huge comparin with the station, it will hide the station and make look so small.

    the new mall and station will overload the area with visitors and transportation and reaching the city center will be impossible.

    th roads around the station are so narrow.
    i think it's a mistake, as the ugly Ual Boogha compound that they have being building for 28 years and they didn't finish yet..

    By Blogger Amr Faham, at 29/4/05 11:22 PM  

  • Save that train,the value of antics
    is when the object tells a story and that train is plain history.

    By Blogger GPV, at 30/4/05 11:45 PM  

  • Ghalia I like the butterfly :)

    By Blogger Dina, at 1/5/05 6:32 PM  

  • i want to add that : the germane emperrer (i think his nam was welhelm) talked to damascene peopel in al-hijaz station , when he met the othman sultan in damascus.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 1/5/05 6:44 PM  

  • I like the way you inform people about your land. Very interesting. Thank you.

    By Blogger Odge, at 2/5/05 2:07 AM  

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