Old City of Nablus

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Old City of Nablus
البلدة القديمة النابلس
Old city
Nablus Old Town streets.jpg
Streets of the Old City
Nablus1937.jpg
Coordinates: 32°13′8″N35°15′41″E / 32.21889°N 35.26139°E / 32.21889; 35.26139
CountryFlag of Palestine.svg  Palestine
City Gaza City

The Old City of Nablus is the historical center of Nablus, in the northern West Bank. Known for its cultural, architectural, and social heritage, the Old City was founded as a Roman city, and remained an important urban center ever since. [1] [2]

Contents

The Old City of Nablus was a center of commerce, with large souqs selling textiles, spices and Nabulsi soap. [3] Today it includes more than 100 historical monumental buildings. [4]

The Old City was severely damaged by Israeli rockets and bombs, particularly during the Second Intifada, where it suffered "probably more than any other Palestinian city". [5] [3]

History

Originally founded as a Canaanite city at the nearby Tell Balata around 2000 BCE, the Old City itself was founded during the Roman period when the Roman Emperor Vespasian established the city of Flavia Neapolis in 72 CE. [3] Nablus evolved into a prominent cultural, religious, and commercial center, due to its strategic location on vital trade routes connecting the region of Palestine with neighboring areas. [3]

The city endured natural disasters, such as the devastating earthquakes of 1202 and 1927, as well as military incursions, which significantly damaged parts of the Old City. [6]

Architecture

The Old City is known for dense, labyrinthine streets, lined with traditional stone buildings, markets, mosques, and historic houses. The architecture is predominantly Mamluk and Ottoman, with some structures dating back to the Ayyubid and earlier periods.

Notable Landmarks

Tourist sign in the Old City Old city in Nablus 1.jpg
Tourist sign in the Old City

The Old City is home to several important landmarks, including:

It is composed of six major quarters: Yasmina, Gharb, Qaryun, Aqaba, Qaysariyya, and Habala. Habala is the largest quarter and its population growth led to the development of two smaller neighborhoods: al-Arda and Tal al-Kreim.

Prominent families include the Nimrs, Tuqans, and Abd al-Hadis. The large fortress-like compound of the Abd al-Hadi Palace built in the 19th century is located in Qaryun. The Nimr Hall and the Tuqan Palace are located in the center of the old city.

There are several mosques in the Old City: the Great Mosque of Nablus, An-Nasr Mosque, al-Tina Mosque, al-Khadra Mosque, Hanbali Mosque, al-Anbia Mosque, Ajaj Mosque and others.

There are six hamaams (Turkish baths) in the Old City, the most prominent of them being al-Shifa and al-Hana. Al-Shifa was built by the Tuqans in 1624. Al-Hana in Yasmina was the last hamaam built in the city in the 19th century. It was closed in 1928 but restored and reopened in 1994. [1] Several leather tanneries, souks , pottery and textile workshops line the Old City streets. [2] Also located in the Old City is the 15th-century Khan al-Tujjar caravanserai and the Manara Clock Tower, built in 1906. [2]

Conservation and Challenges

The Old City of Nablus, like many historic urban centers in Palestine, faces significant challenges, including physical deterioration of buildings, lack of infrastructure, and the effects of the Israeli occupation, which have led to damage from military incursions and restricted access. Efforts have been made to preserve its architectural heritage, such as the restoration project led by the Taawon Welfare Association.

It has been added to the UNESCO World Heritage Tentative List. [7] [3]

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References

  1. 1 2 Semplici, Andrea and Boccia, Mario. – Nablus, At the Foot of the Holy Mountain Archived 2017-07-08 at the Wayback Machine Med Cooperation, p.17.
  2. 1 2 3 "History". Nablus.ps. Archived from the original on November 12, 2007. Retrieved 2008-04-24.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Abujidi 2023, p. 343–356.
  4. Salameh, Muna M.; Touqan, Basim A.; Awad, Jihad; Salameh, Mohammed M. (2022). "Heritage conservation as a bridge to sustainability assessing thermal performance and the preservation of identity through heritage conservation in the Mediterranean city of Nablus". Ain Shams Engineering Journal. 13 (2). Elsevier BV: 101553. doi: 10.1016/j.asej.2021.07.007 . ISSN   2090-4479. The old city is a dense structure of narrow alleyways and public spaces, with many unique architectural features like vaulted arches, domes, minarets, roofed streets, vaults, etc. The city includes more than 100 historical monumental buildings such as Turkish baths, water springs, khans, ancient soap factories, churches, mosques, historic palaces, etc. Moreover, the city includes verifications for variety of accumulated cultures and civilizations with unique characteristics from various periods, Roman, Islamic, Ottoman, etc.
  5. Awad 2017, p. 454: "The old city of Nablus has suffered, probably more than any other Palestinian city, from the massive invasion by Israeli forces during the second uprising which started in 2000. Many restoration projects were previously completed by the municipality but unfortunately destroyed by the Israeli bombing of the old city. Many buildings were heavily damaged by Israeli rockets during April 2002. A project was carried out by UNDP and funded by the Japanese government to rebuild the houses. Then in December of 2003, many houses were again damaged during Israeli military activity. This kept recurring: buildings were repaired and then damaged."
  6. OCHA 2004.
  7. "Old Town of Nablus and its environs". whc.unesco.org (in Kinyarwanda). Retrieved 2024-09-28.

Bibliography