Looking at old photos of my “once was” beautiful city Homs, and realizing that it will never go back to look the way it did, and that it has never seen the destruction it’s seeing today.
With tears in my eyes I chose a collection of photos, some of which I took myself and put together in a historic order for comparison purposes.
The first set of photos is for an old spot, a square we call the Old Clock square, and you can see the clock in all of these photos:
1- This photo is probably the oldest, and it shows people and their animals that they used to ride.
2- This one shows a mix of cars and carts, with a couple of policemen (During the French occupation perhaps?)
3- This shows a new era, with public transportation and a beautiful fountain and the cars of the 70’s.
4- A recent one from before the Syrian uprising shows the new buildings, City Center, and the absence of the fountain.
5- And this shows what happened in the past few months.
6- And city center these days
Now let’s move to the New Clock square, which is the most famous place in Homs.
1- This first photo shows the clock while being built with old cars and a simple beautiful area
2- Then few years after it was finished
3- Into the 90’s
4- During a celebration in Hafez Assad’s era
5- On April 18th 2011 during the first ever sit-on (Taken by me), and that day we changed the square’s name to Freedom Square.
6- And finally, the clock now.
Ghouta Street, one of the most known and loved streets in Homs.
1- We begin before it was a street, there used to be a lot of water and little bridges and only trees on its left.
2- Water is almost gone, and buildings started to show up.
3- Water is gone, and so did the trees from the area to your right.
4- A complete makeover that no one really liked.
5- Then in 2012 with the cement barriers and the messed up street after tanks started using it.
And let’s end it all with Khalid Bin Al Walid mosque “Sidi Khalid”
1- In black and white with French writing. I believe this was taken by the French during their occupation.
2- After changes to the area and some of the structure next to the mosque
3- A newer “artistic” take.
4- And after being targeted by Assad’s troops
I chose these areas because they’re well knows, beautiful, historic, and weren't completely destroyed. I hope the destruction won’t continue and erase them all.
Many areas in Old Homs (historic mosques, churches, houses, and castles) were harmed much more and some of them were completely destroyed. I may collect some photos of such places later and make a second post. But that one will look much worse than this one I’m sure.
Now you see how beautiful my city looked, and what’s happening to it. I hope your city won’t see anything like this and that you won’t experience the feelings we’re living.
