Rehabilitating archeological covered market in Homs helps revive tourism and economic movement

Homs, SANA – “The Covered Market” activity, kicked off at Khan al-Qeisariyeh in the Old City of Homs, aims at rehabilitating this historic archeological market and restoring life to its stores through rehabilitating the infrastructure including lighting, electrical, solar power, water and drainage systems and networks.

The event is launched in cooperation with the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), Homs Engineers Syndicate, the Heritage Commission and al-Adiyat Association.

The two-day activity includes lectures on the history of archaeological markets in general and Homs markets in particular, musical compositions and national songs, cultural symposiums and a photo exhibition.

The exhibition showcases 210 photos documenting the UNDP achievements in Homs starting with debris removal, rehabilitation of infrastructure and other UNDP projects, besides paintings on glass, accessories and candles.

Speaking at the activity, Public Works and Housing Minister Hussein Arnous underlined the importance of this step in restoring life to Khan al-Qeisariyeh, noting that this step will be followed by similar ones in order to rebuild what has been destroyed due to terrorism.

Homs Governor, Talal al-Barazi, highlighted the government’s keenness and continuous interest in rehabilitating the Old City of Homs and its markets.

For his part, the UNDP Director Tareq Safar noted it has been two weeks since the project was launched. It consists of four phases to rehabilitate the whole market.

The rehabilitation process will include the installation of exterior doors at the market’s main four entrances, rebuilding about 200 stores, designing unified advertising board, rehabilitating the roof which covers a total area of 2382 m2 and documenting heritage items using advanced means.

Head of the Heritage Committee at Homs Engineers Syndicate, Amer al-Seba’i, said that the market includes more than 600 shops and stores and its rehabilitation will revive the economic m cultural, tourist and social movement in the city.

R. Raslan / Ghossoun