- Title: SYRIA: French engineer restores Damascus treasures
- Date: 14th July 2010
- Summary: VARIOUS OF A BAND PERFORMING A CONCERT IN "JACQUES'S HOUSE" ON THE OCCASION OF MUSIC FESTIVAL AUDIENCE APPLAUDING
- Embargoed: 29th July 2010 13:00
- Keywords:
- Topics: Arts / Culture / Entertainment / Showbiz,Light / Amusing / Unusual / Quirky
- Reuters ID: LVA9F02GV2XW2VHU6DJ4XWQGXE1K
- Story Text: When French engineer Jacques Montlucon bought one of the famed, centuries-old courtyard houses of Old Damascus six years ago, he had no idea it contained an architectural marvel.
But Montlucon, who has restored artefacts from the Titanic and helped rescue goods from a sunken Napoleonic merchant ship, has a knack for uncovering the unexpected.
To save the original parts of "al Nofara House," Arabic for "Fountain House," he just removed the heavy varnish covering the wood-paneled walls in the reception room when figures of painted strange birds, monsters and castles started to emerge.
"We did not re-paint, you know. We cleaned the gilded part, but no more gilded. You see, here the paint has disappeared. We left it like this," he explained to Reuters.
He says the paintings are dated 1789, the year of the French Revolution.
The house, which has an elegant fountain and a magnificent rooftop view of the Umayyad mosque, is one of the best kept secrets of Old Damascus. Montlucon believes it dates from the middle of the 18th century.
Montlucon also bought another similar house which he called "Beit Jacques," or "Jacques's House," which he also restored in a similar fashion and in which he now lives.
The once walled city, a United Nations world heritage site, is attracting tourists in increasing numbers as Syria, which has been ruled by the Baath Party since 1963, has relaxed entry restrictions and lifted bans on private enterprise.
The carved wood, stone and elaborate high ceilings were signs of status at Damascene homes, which later incorporated paintings as the cosmopolitan city interacted more with Europe and Western artists and 19th century adventurers visited Syria.
While paintings of buildings and landscapes can be found at the courtyard houses that have survived neglect and destruction in modern Damascus, the mythically-themed paintings at al Nofara House are unique.
Together with a friend, he used cotton buds immersed in basic solvents and simple water colours to restore the room. It took six months -- time-consuming, he said, but not difficult.
He said the most important is to make as many people as possible know about the marvels available in such houses.
"If I want to develop something about heritage techniques here, it is to let that be known by quite a great number of people or maybe there would be some vocations," Montlucon said.
Adding his own touch, Montlucon furnished the house with antique Syrian mother of pearl and art deco furniture from the nearby "Thieves Market."
Passing by a pile of rubble thrown out by workers in a nearby house once, he found prized white and blue Islamic tiles. They now grace a wall in al Nofara House.
The house was part of a bigger aristocratic house next door that was bought by Noura Jumblatt, the Syrian wife of Lebanese Druze leader Walid Jumblatt, an enigmatic former warlord during Lebanon's civil war who has had uneasy relations with Syria.
Noura's restoration is immaculate, but many of the ancient properties that are being turned into restaurants and hotels in the old city have been restored in a way that experts say may have done irrevocable damage.
To make people aware of the old houses of Damascus, Montlucon hosts concerts and cultural activities in the house. Syrians and foreigners alike have appreciated his work.
Emad al-Din Kharba, a trader from Damascus, said: "It is a priceless treasure. If it had been neglected for any longer, it would have been destroyed. He (Jacques Montlucon) is reviving the country, and attracting tourists and ambassadors and people who know the value of the old Arab house."
Montlucon remembers coming to Damascus to study Arabic 10 years ago and wanting to find out the secrets of the old aristocratic houses whose simple facades of stone and mud hide their magnificence and serenity inside.
Montlucon said modern development and pollution were two of the main threats to preserving Syria's legacy. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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