Al-Hamidiyah Souq

The Al-Hamidiyeh Souq (Arabic: سُوق ٱلْحَمِيدِيَّة, romanized: Sūq al-Ḥamīdiyyah) is the largest and the central souk in Syria, located inside the old walled city of Damascus next to the Citadel.

[1] The souq starts at Al-Thawra street and ends at the Umayyad Mosque plaza, and the ancient Roman Temple of Jupiter stands 40 feet tall in its entrance.

The souq dates back to the Ottoman era and was built along the axis of the Roman route to the Temple of Jupiter[2] around 1780 during the reign of Sultan Abdul Hamid I,[1] and later extended during the reign of Sultan Abdul Hamid II.

[1] Nowadays it is one of the most popular shopping districts in Syria, being lined with hundreds of clothes emporiums, shops selling traditional crafts and jewelry, cafés, grocery stores, food stalls, and ice cream parlors.

[2] Before the ongoing Syrian Civil War, it was one of Damascus's main attractions and was visited by many tourists, including Europeans and Gulf Arabs;[2] however, it still remains a popular attraction for locals and Syrians.

The famous Syrian Booza in the Bakdash store
In Al-Hamidiyah Souq