Damascus is the capital and the second largest city of Syria as well as one of the country's 14 governorates.
Damascus is the capital and the largest city of Syria after Aleppo prior to the civil war. It is commonly known in Syria as ash-Sham (Arabic: الشام ash-Shām) and nicknamed as the City of Jasmine (Arabic: مدينة الياسمين Madīnat al-Yāsmīn). In addition to being one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, Damascus is a major cultural and religious centre of the Levant.
