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Hama on the Orontes

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HobWahid
HobWahid
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4 out of 5
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1
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Hama on the Orontes

  • January 26, 2005
  • Rated 4 of 5 by HobWahid from Damascus, Syria
Hama on the Orontes

Hama is a constant favorite with travelers in Syria for its central location, great budget hotel options, and picturesque location along the Orontes River. It is a city that was once one of the most beautiful in all of Syria, with riverside gardens, a bustling old city, and its famous waterwheels (or norias). However, a violent uprising by the Muslim Brotherhood in 1982 against the secular Alawi regime of Hafez al-Assad spurred the government to brutally repress the rebellion before it spread to other parts of Syria. The result was an almost complete destruction of the old city of Hama due to fighting and bombing and the deaths of an estimated 20,000 people. Today, the residents of Hama don’t like to talk about the events both because of a fear the government and because, surprisingly, many people are happy to see the Muslim Brotherhood gone. Even despite the events of 1982, Hama has much of its former charm, with large expanses riverside gardens and cafés that allow you to get great views of the norias and aqueducts that ruled this city hundreds of years ago.

To explore Hama itself, you really need only 1 day. The sights aren’t that plentiful that it should warrant much more than that, but if you are traveling in Syria and want to see a good number of the sights in the mountains, then you will probably end up spending a few nights here, as it is the best city in the region to arrange day trips to such sites as Krak des Chavaliers, Misyaf, and Aphamea, as well as countless others.

The time to visit Hama is certainly in the late spring or early fall, when the weather is sunny and warm so you can take full advantage of restaurants, such as Sultan, with outdoor terraces situated along the water, where you can eat and watch the ceaseless churning of the mighty norias nearby. However, this is also Hama at its most crowded and many of the good hotels, such as Cairo or Riyad, may be booked. In the winter, the weather isn’t warm enough to sit outside, but it is still pleasant, and many of the restaurants and cafés still have indoor seating that offer great views.

In terms of sights, the most obviously Hama-specific sights are the norias, the towering waterwheels dating back to the Mamluke era that were used to dump water onto large aqueducts that would carry the water into the farmlands. Today, there are a good 14 or so left along the Orontes, with about 6 right in the center of Hama. Beyond the waterwheels, however, there are also the wonderful, and recently built, Hama Museum and the Azam Palace museum, which give interesting glimpses into Syria’s past. You may want to stop by and see the traditional goat hair weavers near al-Aubaysi Mosque as well. Other than that, the only thing left to do is get the best falafel in all of Syria from Ali Baba’s on Kouwalti Street.

From journal Hama and the Orontes Valley

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