Amid the noisy hustle and bustle of the world’s oldest inhabited capital city, a spectacular remnant of a golden age lingers tranquilly, hidden near the ancient quarters of the Bab Sharqi neighbourhood in east Damascus.
Qasr Nassan, or Nassan Palace as it is known, is a striking, traditional 18th-century Damascene villa concealed by a deliberately modest exterior that represents a throwback to a time of grandeur and discovery.
While walking through the surrounding tight alleyways, the unescapable allure of jasmine trees and naranj (bitter orange) betrays the proximity of the palace.
Upon entry, a spacious rectangular courtyard is majestically decorated with geometric shapes as the water trickles from the quintessentially Damascene octagonal fountain.
Despite the visual aesthetics, Nassan is no mere museum, on the contrary, it is still home for members of the Nassan family, who open it up to visitors by choice.
A notable family, the Nassans are immersed in a rich, multigenerational history of Syrian handicrafts, mosaics and brocade, and continue to live on the premises, keenly preserving the gargantuan 30-room villa.
A lavish colonnade greets visitors surrounded by countless halls and rooms, while the elaborate ceilings and mosaic walls are adorned with intricate wooden decorations and maze-like patterns.
The spectacular iwan – a rectangular vaulted space often considered the centrepiece of such houses – is the cornerstone of the 4,000-square-metre two-storey building, full of inscriptions and oriental constructs.
Damascus itself is like an open-air museum, packed with world heritage sites, yet Nassan is a typical ancient Arabic architectural model, a vivid reminder of the city’s unique identity and slowly fading history.
The palace has great meaning for the city. Rania Kataf, an expert in Syrian cultural heritage and founder of Humans of Damascus, tells The National: “When you enter a Damascene house, you unlock a new world, you become detached from anything that’s outside, yet simultaneously you are outside.
“This portrays different aspects, it tells you about privacy, respect, especially at the time that these houses were made. They were built specifically for female privacy, ‘haramlek’ and ‘saramlek’ (male-female segregation).
“The dahlez (narrow corridor), before you arrive at the courtyard, the colours, the art, the wood, the panels, all these show different values that people needed in relation to specific times in our history.”
From the outside, the simple decorations were specifically designed so the building was perceived as normal by onlookers. This signified humbleness and modesty, not to make others look on with envy, and as a mark of respect for others less fortunate.
“A Damascene house is an identity, a document, Nassan is one of those houses, that has been renewed, it is very important,” Kataf adds. “Every aspect of a Damascene house is a narrative.”
Among its many significant contents is a guest book, which is testament to the diversity and fame of the palace.
Lord Mountbatten has his named signed in the guest book, as have Christina Onassis and Henry Kissinger. "This is a beautiful place for doing beautiful work," was written by former US president Jimmy Carter in 1983, even former Egyptian president Gamal Abdel Nasser is listed.
Known as the Golden Book, it is a piece of history itself. Former US president Richard Nixon and former French presidents Jacques Chirac and Francois Mitterrand are also present in its pages.
Nassan Palace is a relic of Syria’s past and heyday. Next door to the palace is the family factory, which Georges Nassan – an early pioneer of Arabesque artistic crafts – built when he came to Damascus from southern Syria in the 18th century.
While there were close to 700 skilled workers, making silk fabrics, mosaic pieces and handicrafts at various times in its history, it was a beacon of art and manufacturing, especially carpentry, a skill slowly fading.
Silk brocade fabrics were woven in the factory and distributed all over Syria, the Middle East and the world, but today brocade crafting is a skill in short supply.
Kataf says that the significance of this house is partly derived from its role in Syrian history, culture and development.
“Nassan Palace is distinguished from others because of the location and the ancestry. Georges Nassan had a great influence in protecting cultural heritage, he had a factory which did so many handcrafts.“
As time slowly passes, Nassan becomes more than just a simple building or a palace, it represents a Syria that once was, deeply enriched and at the vanguard of culture, art, handicrafts and textiles.
