Hama is famous for its water wheels, which have been supplying the town with water from the low-lying river since the 5th C AD
We have got a hour or two in Hama. If you think internal violence in Syria is a recent development, think twice: Hama rose to fame in 1982, when the Muslim Brotherhood, which had a strong following in conservative Hama, staged an uprising against the regime of Assad-pére. It took three weeks, heavy bombardments by the army’s tanks, and somewhere between 10,000 and 25,000 dead, but then it was over again. When I ask about it, I am being told by our guides that the people of Hama revolted against the Muslim Brotherhood, because they wanted to continue their comfortable life at the hand of the Hafez Assad government. Which is why almost the entire inner city was destroyed by bombing – still visible in the most horrible architecture representing the restoration. To add insult to injury, there is a large copper statue of Hafez Assad at the entrance of the town.
there is perciously little left of the old city, except this passage way
and a narrow alley behind it; really, that is all!
the youth from Hama is clearly excited to see so many foreigners
On our city walk we try to visit the Al Nouri mosque, built in 1162 according to the sign. It is closed. And so is the museum, the Alma Palace – in the only tiny little part of town that is still its historical centre. What is left are the water wheels that Hama is also famous for. Water from the low lying Orontes river is scooped up by the wheels, which are powered by the river flow itself, and water is then deposited higher up, to provide houses with water, and to facilitate irrigation. Piece of cake, really – for a Dutchman – , but apparently this technique was already in use here in the 5th C, and the current wheels probably date back to the 14th or 15th C. There are some 17 or 18 left, out of a 100, in the past, and they keep being maintained. What the photos don’t show is the noise the wheels make, a constant moaning, at least as characteristic as the wheels themselves!
next: Homs, or what is left of it.
well, and the mosque, and the water wheels along the Orontes river
they are quite impressive, those wheels
and here you can see how the water is dropped in a kind of aquaduct-like structure, for further transport
the architecture is sadly 1980s, in most of the town, very unattractive
and he was the man responsible for that… the back of Hafez al-Assad
incredible, because there are hardly any tourists, but the camel is there, inviting to take a seat
