Damascus, Syria
The Roof Full of Holes That Nobody Wants Repaired
The iron roof over Souq al-Hamidiyah is perforated by damage nearly a century old. It has become the most photographed light in the city — and an argument about what restoration is for.
By The Bayt Syria places desk
31 January 2021
1 min read
Damascus
The light comes down in points. On a bright afternoon the whole length of the souq is speckled, and the speckles move across the shoulders of everyone walking under them.
The holes are damage. They were not designed and they were not wanted, and for a long time the only sensible engineering opinion was that the roof should be replaced.
What restoration is actually restoring
A conservation argument usually turns on a date: which state of a building is the one you return it to. Here the argument turns on something harder, because the state everyone loves is not a state anyone built.
Repair the roof properly and you get back the covered market as designed: shaded, even, legible. You also lose the single most recognisable interior in Damascus.
The building was designed to keep the sun out. It is loved for the way it now lets the sun in.
The practical position, which is where this has landed, is that the roof is maintained but not made whole. Structure is kept sound. The perforation is left. It is a compromise nobody would defend as a principle, and almost everyone accepts in this instance.
Traders under it are the least sentimental constituency and the most consistent one. They will tell you the light is good for business, which it is, and that a solid roof would make the souq darker than the shops can afford.
Photographs
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