The Crafts of Damascus: Brocade, Inlay, Ajami, Blown Glass and Damascus Steel

For centuries Damascus was famous for the hands of its craftsmen — so famous that some of its products gave their names to other languages: damask for patterned cloth and Damascus steel for rippled blades. Many of these crafts are still alive in small workshops of the old city, and visiting them is one of the best things to do in Damascus.

Brocade: silk and gold

Damascene brocade is woven from natural silk with threads of gold or silver that form raised designs: flowers, birds and the story of the lover and the beloved. It is woven on slow wooden hand looms, and one metre can take days. Only a few workshops still make it, and some are teaching the craft to a new generation.

Wood inlaid with mother-of-pearl

Boxes, tables, chairs and mirror frames covered in tiny pieces of coloured wood, bone and shining mother-of-pearl, set in precise geometric patterns. In the workshops of Bab Sharqi and Straight Street you can watch craftsmen cut the pieces and set them one by one.

Ajami: raised painting on wood

The art that decorates the wooden ceilings and walls of Damascene houses: a special paste is used to draw raised ornament, then painted and gilded. You will see it in Azem Palace, Beit Nizam and restored houses, and some craftsmen make small panels in this style that you can carry home.

Blown glass

Blue, green and amber glass, blown by hand in traditional furnaces, with small air bubbles that mark it out. A very old craft in the region where glassblowing is thought to have begun some two thousand years ago.

Damascus steel

The Damascus sword was a legend of the Middle Ages: a flexible, razor-sharp blade with patterns rippling across its surface like water. Damascus was a centre of sword-making and trade, using a special steel brought from India. The original secret was lost over time, but in the old city craftsmen still make knives, swords and hammered metalwork.

Copper and silver

In the coppersmiths' souq you will find ewers, trays and lanterns, hammered and pierced. An engraved copper piece is a gift that lasts.

Where to see and buy

• Straight Street and Bab Sharqi: inlay, copper and brocade.
• Khan al-Harir and Souq al-Hamidiyeh: fabrics and scarves.
• Al-Takiyya al-Sulaymaniyya: for decades home to the artisans' market; locations may change with restoration.

Read our souq shopping guide before you buy, and the customs tips before you fly.