1,000 year old Damascus Palace



The Damascus Palace originally stood in the ancient ruins of Maidan in Damascus. It was considered an exceptionally good
example of splendor at the time of the Caliphs who ruled in Persia from about 532 AD until the year 1517 when the Turks conquered Egypt.
Damascus, formerly the capitol of Syria, is the oldest city in the civilized world and known as the pearl of the orient.
The Palace Room Contructed over ten centuries ago of cedar of Lebanon wood also known as ironwood because of its hardness, accounts for it's wonderful state of preservation to the present day. It is the same kind of wood King Solomon used in the construction of his temple.

In 1893 through the efforts of the Turkish government to send something exceptional to the World's Fair in Chicago, the palace was dismantled from it's original location, each piece photographed and numbered and sent to the Columbian Exposition
where it drew so much interest that it was later sent to the Saint Louis World's Fair in 1904.
Since the closing of the fair in Saint Louis it has remained in storage until its reconstruction in the Cherokee Cave Art Gallery.
On this wood is a Gesso-Duro treatment that brings out in relief the inscriptions and outlines of the geometrical and floral designs.
over this is the decoration in colors and gilding finished off with a preparation which gives a subdued metallic effect very much in
appearance to fine embossed leather Although the detail is gorgeous in treatment, the intricacies of design and effects of age give
a fascinating mellowness. Our artists have followed it's original colors in reconstruction and the finished treatment of this
restoration has been pronounced perfect by the experts from Damascus. The beautiful draperies and hangings in the palace were secured by the Turkish government at the time of its removal
to Chicago by searching the bazaars of Damascus for the finest examples of hand embroidered velvet with gold threads
to restore the exhibit to its original splendor. The window drapery is of red satin embelshed with metal stars and crescents sewed on by hand. The divans are covered with gold embroidered satin and the original velour pillows.


FROM A 1904 ST.LOUIS NEWSPAPER

"The Palace of Damascus, an edifice so old that its builders, its occupants and its history are lost in obscurity, is the latest
attraction secured for the world's fair. The palace will stand on the north terrace of the Administration building to balance the
Italian National pavilion on the south side. It is to the actual building brought piece by piece, from far off Syria and rebuilt in
St. Louis. A portion of this famous building was on exhibited at Chicago in 1893, and another part was on exhibition at the Antwerp Exposition in 1877; but here for the first time will be seen the whole of the building which time has left standing.
All the woodwork of the palace is made of the hardest wood in the world, so hard that it has lasted as long as stone.
The palace itself has been a subject of conjecture and controversy among archaeologists for years."



Here are a few pictures of the Palace as it is today.
Most of the panels "which are nine to twelve foot high" have only been partially re assembled.
We are in the process of researching the rooms restoration.
More photographs will become available soon.

CLICK ON AN IMAGE TO SEE A LARGER VERSION OF THE THUMBNAIL.

Palace1
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