Damascus resorts

When the people of Damascus flee the blaze of summer, they do not go far; in the embrace of the Damascus countryside a hanging paradise awaits them on the mountain slopes, where the resorts of Bloudan, Zabadani, and Maaloula hang like strings of pearls on the chest of Qalamoun.

Bloudan, the bride of Damascus resorts, greets its visitors with cool breezes and green plateaus. There, at an altitude of 1,500 meters, its stone houses hang like balconies overlooking the Gaza of Damascus and apple orchards. It was a destination for pashas and merchants, and it still retains its old hotels that tell stories from the era of elegant summer retreats.

On the slope lies Zabadani, a lake centered in the mountains like a mirror reflecting the blue sky. Restaurants and cafés line its banks, where the scent of grilling mingles with the cold spring water. It is the Damascus families’ park, where orchards stretch on both sides of the Barada River, and clusters of grapes and vines hang on the doors of houses.

Maaloula is the most magical and captivating. A city carved into the mountain’s chest, it still preserves the language of Christ, Aramaic, spoken by its inhabitants for two thousand years. Its houses are chiseled into the rock, some facing each other like tiers, and its ancient temples such as Mar Sarkis and Bakhos perch on the mountain tops as guardians of history. In its narrow streets you feel as if you are walking through layers of time, where Christianity and Islam meet in a rare tableau of brotherhood.

The trio of Bloudan, Zabadani, and Maaloula forms the Damascus beauty triangle, where stunning nature meets ancient history, and where Damascenes still escape the city’s heat for the mountain breezes that carry the scent of jasmine and immortal memories.