Homs – 2019

Two cities in Syria became known worldwide during the war: Aleppo and Homs. The destruction in these two places was enormous, precisely it is enormous, because hardly anything was rebuilt, due to sanctions. The severe fighting in Homs lasted three years from May 2011 to May 2014.

Homs 2019 Hama Road

Area in Homs that suffered massive bombing in 2019

Homs is a strategic place: the only natural gateway from Syria’s Mediterranean coast to the interior. It is also roughly halfway between Damascus and Aleppo, and close to Lebanon.

We approached Homs in the morning hours on a bus from Aleppo, heavy clouds hang in the sky and light rain had set in – a mood that was already a bit depressive. Then all of a sudden buildings, or what was left of them, lined the road. This went on for a couple of minutes and I was in shock, even after what I had seen in Aleppo. I managed to record bits of it, but then the bus turned around a bend and the scenario changed completely. A functioning city, lots of sweet shops and even a fairy wheel.

Homs 2019

Slobo and Csabe – my travel campaignons on the ferry wheel

Homs 2019 – sweet shops

Homs 2019 – sweet shops

I learned in Aleppo that very neighborhood was affected differently from the war, some were completely flattened others untouched. In Homs, the most effected neighborhoods were Al-Khalidiya, Jurat Al-Shayyah and Karam Al Zeitoun.

Homs neighborhoods

But everything looked run down, neglected after years of sanctions that did not allow to import items, like heavy machinery to rebuild houses and infrastructure.  The sanctions also created an immense poverty, people simply did not have the money to fix their houses, plus, with electricity working only a few hours, not much can be achieved.

Homs 2019

Churches and mosques the first buildings to be rebuilt

I was surprised how many churches to find in Homs, but under the Byzantines, the city became a centre of Christianity. At the beginning of the war, 1,5 million or 10% of the population were Christians, they lived mainly in the cities of Damaskus, Aleppo and Homs. At the end of the war only 2% or around 300.000 Christians were left.

visited a couple of churches in Homs, one had a big hole in the copula and was in the process of being repair. I was stunned and annoyed that religious building were the first ones to be rebuilt, churches and mosque alike: churches often with the help of the Lebanese Christian, the repair of one of Homs most famous mosque Khalid ibn al-Walid Mosque, named and dedicated to Arab military commander who led the Muslim conquest to Syria in the 7th century following the decisive battle of Yarmouk, which put an end to Byzantine rule in Syria.

Khalid ibn al-Walid Mosque, sits in the middle of Al-Khalidiya neighborhood that is completely destroyed, almost miraculously only the mosque is standing. I ask how it was saved from the bombs: it was not, is also suffered heavy damage, but the Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov paid for its repair ( for many other mosques and personally reopened it in February 2019, a months before I visited.

Tomb of Khalid ibn al-Walid

Once the mosque sitting was in a beautiful park, now the park is overgrown with Weed, the houses around it destroyed

photo from before the war

 Smiley and heartful welcome amidst destruction

In Homs the destruction that I saw ran along major roads, like Hama Road or around Martyrs Square, whereas in Aleppo it was the Old City with the world’s largest covered market, the area around the Citadel, including ancient mosques and khans, the Kurdish area and the East part off the city in general, were hit the most.

Like everywhere we went in Syria we were welcomed with a big smile and an invitation to enter shops, have tea and listen to heartwrenching stories in broken English.

One evening our little group wondered along dark alleys, past the ruins that once were the home of affluent families and businesses, when we heard young voices. In the distance was a bit of a light, it was a group of young teenagers playing on a banged up table-soccer. We were invited to join and this was one of those magic moments where I realized, even in the midst of such destruction can be moments of happiness. Photos video

Another emotional encounter was at the fairy-wheel, which looked so fragile. We all got on it and paid for a ride for the kids hanging out in the little park.

One evening Slobo and Csabe went to see local soccer game. The team stayed in our hotel, and this is how we Learned about it