- Bab Tuma
Bab Tuma (
Arabic ,باب توما) "(Saint Thomas’s Gate)" is the oldestborough ofDamascus Fact|date=November 2007itself the oldest city in the world, and owes its name toThomas , one of the twelve apostles ofJesus Christ .Famous residents included:
Saint Paul the most notable of Early Christian missionaries (hence expressions such as “the road to Damascus experience”),Saint Thomas himself who after lending his name to the neighborhood went on to exploreAfghanistan , Punjab andIndia ,Saint Joseph of Damascus , the New World’s Raphael Hawawini the firstOrthodox Bishop ofNew York (he was sent to the US in 1895 by the Tsar of Russia), and Syrian-born philosopherMichel Aflak , founder of theBaath party.In the 16th century, following the occupation of
Antioch andAlexandretta by Turkish troops, the borough of Bab Tuma became the seat of theGreek-Orthodox andGreek-Catholic Churches for the NorthernLevant (Syria ,Lebanon and Southern Turkey).
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.