AL-SHALCHI: "Yes, it's much busier because of people who weren't able to come to Damascus before," he says. Many Syrians fled their homes when the Assad regime clamped down on peaceful protests in ...

DAMASCUS, Syria -- Majed al-Sabah has big hopes for the street called Straight in this capital's Old City. The part-owner of Syria's first designer clothing store says this road will one day ...

DAMASCUS, Syria — Rima Jourieh begins her inspections early, when the click of her heels on cobblestone echoes through the narrow alleyways of Old Damascus.

The Sept. 26 front-page article on the gentrification of the part of Damascus known as the Old City said that its population began to drop in the 1950s.

Old Damascus, a maze of roofed bazaars where bargain-hunters haggle for everything from carpets to handmade blue glass, is finding new life in dozens of cafes, restaurants and bars which have ...

AL-SHALCHI: Just next door, 40-year-old Alaa Sloojee fixes a stand of purses he's selling in his shop. His face glows with a wide smile. He says he feels relief that the old regime is gone.

AL-SHALCHI: Just next door, 40-year-old Alaa Sloojee fixes a stand of purses he's selling in his shop. His face glows with a wide smile. He says he feels relief that the old regime is gone.

AL-SHALCHI: Just next door, 40-year-old Alaa Sloojee fixes a stand of purses he's selling in his shop. His face glows with a wide smile. He says he feels relief that the old regime is gone.

A visit to the souk in the old city in the Syrian capital of Damascus tell us a lot about the state of the country's current economy. KUOW is Seattle’s NPR news station. We are an independent ...