Cornucopia 21

Damascus: The perfumed city
by Brigid Keenan with photographs by Tim Beddow
and commentary by John Carswell

Cornucopia begins a series on the riches of the Ottoman Empire with a grand tour of Damascus. The perfect starting point is Brigid Keenan's new book on the old city, with photographs by Tim Beddow, extracted in this article. Like lsabel Burton, another diplomat's wife 120 years earlier, Keenan fell head over heels with Damascus, and in the 1990s spearheaded a movement to restore the city's beautiful old houses, with their cool courtyards and glowing interiors.

Top: A lovely arcade shelters he alcove in the courtyard of Bait Dahdah. It is a stunning surprise to pass through the dark streets of the old city into the sunlit courtyards of the houses with their trees and singing birds