{"id":18897,"date":"2022-09-01T18:55:10","date_gmt":"2022-09-01T16:55:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jordillorens.com\/?p=18897"},"modified":"2022-09-01T19:01:57","modified_gmt":"2022-09-01T17:01:57","slug":"sanaa-the-beauty-of-the-east","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jordillorens.com\/en\/sanaa-the-beauty-of-the-east\/","title":{"rendered":"Sana\u2019a, the beauty of the east"},"content":{"rendered":"

The city is at 2,200 meters of altitude surrounded by mountains that exceed 3,000 meters. Listed as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO<\/strong>, the old city has no more than 6,000 narrow and tall houses, more than a hundred mosques, a dozen baths, and thirty Koran schools.<\/p>\n

Sana’a<\/strong>, the capital of Yemen<\/strong>, is the largest open-air museum<\/strong> in the world. But unlike any museum, it is full of life. Buildings of extravagant beauty unequaled anywhere else in the world observe a lifestyle unchanged since the Middle Ages<\/strong>: women covered from head to toe, here and there weapons shops where one can buy anything from a saber to a kalashnikov, storytellers that fascinate people with their stories and legends.<\/p>\n

Its architecture expresses the appreciation of each Yemenite for their house. Most of them live in authentic 6-8 story medieval palaces<\/strong> built 5 centuries ago<\/strong>. This means that the houses continue to belong to a single patriarchal family that welcomes the families of their children and can live together three generations.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Sana’a<\/p><\/div>\n

Going through the magical frame of the Bab-al-Yemen gate<\/strong>, I have to sit in a corner of the square, I don’t believe what I’m seeing. I am entering the oriental tales and fantasies of my most intimate childhood. I am living them, I have them in front of me.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Bab Al Yemen Gate, Sana’a<\/p><\/div>\n

The small merchants, the sellers of second-hand clothes, the Jews selling silverware, the Bedouins with vacant eyes and burnt faces. The old city displayed before me all the colors and flavors,<\/strong> all the images of a country that I believed existed only in my imagination. They were biblical images<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Sana’a market alley<\/p><\/div>\n

The fascinating market, or souk, is one of the oldest in the Arab world. It extends through the center of the Old City, constituting a spider web of alleys, passages and corridors, some of them protected by awnings, plastic or faded umbrellas. But despite the apparent disorder, they are organized by guilds: the jewelers, jambia sellers, spices, fruits, nuts and dates, tea and coffee, antiques (rather trinkets), tools of the house, various foods, clothes, sandals, etc. etc.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Sana’a Market<\/p><\/div>\n

All three senses are highlighted in the Sanaa souk: sight, hearing and smell.<\/strong><\/p>\n

    \n
  • With the eyes you can see a multitude of articles that are always simple and primary, old-fashioned, with a design that is somewhere between na\u00efve and impersonal.<\/li>\n
  • Through the ear the activity of the souk is calibrated: crowing of the roosters, cries of offers.<\/li>\n
  • An endless number of colors, aromas and bad odors enter through the sense of smell.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    The spell of eternal Arabia meets and blends: frankincense and myrrh, oils and perfumes, pepper and cardamom, cinnamon, vanilla and saffron.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    The city is at 2,200 meters of altitude surrounded by mountains that exceed 3,000 meters. Listed as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO, the old city has no more than […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":18901,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[46],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18897","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-travel-memories"],"yoast_head":"\nSana\u2019a, the beauty of the east - Jordi Llorens<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The city is at 2,200 meters of altitude surrounded by mountains that exceed 3,000 meters. 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