Global Arab Network | Syria - 400 years water mill back to life

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Syria - 400 years water mill back to life

Global Arab Network - - Hannan Taha

Wednesday, 19 August 2009 21:47

Kiwan is a city located in the western part of Syria at the Qasioun mountainous region embracing jasmine trees and Barada River branches.
One could get there via Al-Nuzha train railway which passes through Zabadani, Bludan, Qudsiya, Medaya and finally Kiwan.

Kiwan is a tourist spot attracting people from Damascus. For the past centuries, the rich ones built palaces which were influenced by a mix of the Levant-Arab architecture and the Rococo European style. They also built water mills on the Barada River branches passing through Kiwan, but unfortunately some of the mills as well as the palaces were subjected to destruction and most were transformed into modern buildings.

Among the surviving mills, is one which is owned by a rich individual from Damascus, and it is situated at a spectacular location at the heights of Kiwan overlooking a magnificent panoramic view of Damascus city and the Qasioun mountain.

The mill's owner transformed it into a tourist, cultural and art resort and called it "Art House".

The Art House resort includes a guest house, ballroom, library, gallery, interior and exterior pools and other services such as restaurants, cafes, Turkish baths, and Sauna.

The Art House resort is unique among other Syrian resorts because the owner came up with a creative idea naming each guest room over a Syrian prominent intellectual plus assigning a section in the room to include the scholar's books and collections and that is to allow the guests to surf through the life of the scholar.

The resort's engineer Ghiath Mashnouq spoke to KUNA of the resort's construction stages of which started from the renovation of a mill which was set up 400 years ago, using same materials, preserving the original shape, however adding art touches.

The guest house is decorated with traditional Syrian style fabrics and architecture which takes the visitors back to the 1940s and 1950s.

The guest house includes seven rooms and three suits which were all named after famous Syrian intellectuals of the twentieth century such as poet Nezar Qabani, journalist Mari Ajmi, Olfat Al-Adliby, Mustafa Al-Aqad, Omar Abu Risha, Fateh Al-Mudares, and Nasir Shura.

The guests are provided with a compact disc and books containing information about the Syrian intellectual so that they get a glimpse of his/her life.

During the launching of the resort, the grandson of Nezar Qabani along with his bride came all the way from London to stay at the room which holds the name of his grandfather.

Moreover, grandchildren of Olfat Al-Adlby came from London to stay at the room named after their grandmother.

Compared to Damascus, the weather in Kiwan tends to be milder in the summer and colder in the winter. One can appreciate the beautiful scenery of the Qasioun Mountain and Damascus.

The staff at the hotel are very well educated and serve as tourist guides, the engineer said.

The renovation of the historic mill and transforming it into a resort was a combination of coordinated efforts and plans between the government and the private sector to transform monuments into tourist sites.

Al-Adham Palace was transformed into a museum, Al-Takiya Al-Sulimaniya was turned into handicrafts bazaar, the palace of the former Syrian Prime Minister Khaled Al-Adham was turned into a museum containing historic documents and archives plus transforming old Damascus-style houses into restaurants such as Al-Khawali, Al-Yasar and Jabri.

Global Arab Network

Talal Al-Kayed, DAMASCUS, KUNA

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