DAMASCUS, Syria (North Press) – After spending most of his time in the cafes of Damascus’ Bab Touma neighborhood, 32-year-old Yahya Abdullah now prefers to frequent the cafes in the city center.
In the past, these cafes were a meeting place for intellectual, literary, political, and cultural forums, but now most of them have become commercial projects.
In the nineteenth century, cafes began to spring up in the main streets and popular markets in the capital, and most of them were located on the banks of the Barada River.
Historical sources agree that in the last 25 years of the 19th century, the number of cafes in Damascus was between 110 and 120.
The original cafés included famous names such as the Sukkariah and al-Qamahain Cafe, which are located in Bab al-Jabiya, al-Asrouniya and al-Ratl Cafe in Bab Touma, Jawish in al-Qaymariya, and many others, of which only three have remained.
Dedicated cafes
At that time, cafes were dedicated to their customers. There were artisans’ cafes and merchants’ cafes. The most famous cafes were those frequented by intellectuals, artists, writers, and politicians, and they were all on the main streets of the Syrian capital.
Professionals and craftsmen used to go to certain cafes, such as the carpenters’ cafe in al-Shaghour neighborhood, al-Hamam cafe for bird sellers in al-Sinaniya market, al-Bukhari cafe in the hay market for bakers, and the workers’ cafe in the old market.
Those who used to go to these cafes discussed their professions and their lives. The people of the Syrian governorates residing in Damascus also had cafes that were later known by their names.
At that time, cafes were dedicated to intellectuals and politicians in the main streets of the Syrian capital, such as the Brasil, Havana and al-Rawda cafes. There was even a cafe for the deaf known as the Khorsan Café.
At that time, the goal of meeting in cafes was to exchange cultural and intellectual conversations, most of which called for building intellectual and political currents.
In the tenth century AD, Damascus was one of the first cities to know coffee, until it became a social ritual and public shops were established to serve the drink. It is likely that cafes appeared in the city in the first half of the 16th century.
For entertainment
However, according to Abdullah, the goal of cafes has changed today, “as cafes have turned into places to follow sporting events and birthday celebrations, in addition to drinking tea and hookah.”
Ahmed al-Hassan, a café owner in Sarouja, told North Press: “Today, most of the cafe-goers are young people, such as university students, lawyers, and football fans.”
These cafes turn into halls that gather fans of that sport during the football league, at a time when most areas of Damascus suffer from electricity cuts, he added.
With the beginning of the Syrian crisis in 2011, the Sarouja area and its cafes “turned into a place where most opposition figures of the Syrian government gathered after they previously met in Bab Touma cafes.”
Since then, Damascus cafes have been divided between “cafes for pro-regime individuals, and others for the opposition,” after these cafes used to serve all people regardless of their political leanings.
Taysir al-Hassan, a pseudonym for a lawyer specializing in terrorism cases, said: “Between 2014 and 2015, Sarouja’s cafes witnessed the arrest of a large number of young people who coordinated and met here to report on the events taking place in Damascus and Rif Dimashq.”
No education
Historical researcher Muhammad al-Nasser (a pseudonym) said, “Damascus cafes are no longer places for cultural gatherings, but rather hookah cafes only, as their cultural role has declined and is replaced by the entertainment side.”
The researcher, living in Damascus, attributed this to “the Ba’ath Party’s control over political life and its suppression of all intellectual or cultural activities that oppose it.”
“Damascus’ cafes today only attract young people to drink, and they no longer have any role in political or cultural life – that is basically non-existent,” he added.
He stressed that in the fifties and sixties, the entry of these cafes was restricted to the educated class and not others, and they were rarely frequented by young people.
50-year-old Hassan Mansour (a pseudonym), a cafe owner in Damascus, said in an interview with North Press, “We no longer have old Damascene cafes as they used to be.”
He attributed this to the development and social and even political changes, concluding, “Today, all cafes seek profit rather than seeking to form or spread culture.”