الجولة الثامنة في ربوع الغوطة ١_a .. كتاب في ربوع سورية

Al-Ghouta is the wooded area surrounding the city of Damascus from the west, south and east, where the city of Damascus lies from the north on the southern slopes of Mount Qasioun overlooking the beautiful Ghouta.

The eighth round in Ghouta

Al-Ghouta is a plain area that forms part of the Damascus Basin. It gained its adornment, joy and beauty from the orchards of fruit trees and other lush shade trees. And if one does not want to roam around Ghouta Damascus through the many asphalt roads that penetrate it, then it is possible for him to see Ghouta from his view of it from the slopes of Mount Qasioun, and also to see how Ghouta has become now if he has in his imagination an image of what it was in yesterday (about a quarter magic ago). a century ago)

Theoretically, the area of ​​Ghouta is estimated at 2,000 square kilometers, extending from the southwest to the northeast, with a length of about 26 km, from Jdeidet Artouz and Moadamiyat al-Sham in the southwest to Al-Nashabiyah in the northeast. About 15 km

Ghouta is divided into two parts: Eastern Ghouta and Western Ghouta, separated by the old Damascus-Daraa road, according to the opinion of some, and the Damascus-International Airport-Haijana road, according to the opinion of others, which is the most realistic, unless we consider the area confined between the two previous roads as representative of what is known as Central Ghouta. The town of Irbin (Arbil) is the center of Eastern Ghouta, and the town of Darayya is the center of Western Ghouta. The orchards of Ghouta are irrigated by the Barada River and its many branches (Yazid, Tora, Baniyas, Dirani Mazawi channels).
Two branches branch out from the Barada River within the city of Damascus: Al-Da’ani and Al-Aqrabawi, just as other branches branch out from it after leaving Damascus (Al-Malehi).

Al-Zabadini, Al-Jisreeni...etc).

The wells are currently irrigating large areas of the Ghouta orchards. Ghouta is surrounded by steppe areas that appear clear in its east, where the area known as Al-Marj extends to the Otaiba and Haggana depressions, which constitute a transitional area between Ghouta and the Badia. Eastern Ghouta has more trees and a more beautiful view, and this is due to the fact that it receives more water than Barada and its branches.

Ghouta appears in the form of a semi-open basin from the east, surrounded by highlands from the north, west, and southwest, and penetrated by Wadi Barada almost in the middle, heading to the Otaiba depression. It is characterized by its relatively flat surface due to its gradual slope towards the east, which helped in the quality of the drainage process.

The climate of Ghouta is dry, as its annual rainfall ranges between 150-200 mm. It is characterized by the mild temperature of its spring and the beauty of its summer due to the greenery and lush shadows that cover its land and modify its climate by giving it higher humidity and lower temperature than the barren lands in its east. Especially since its tall trees - as in Eastern Ghouta - often appear to be hugging each other, forming a complete umbrella that blocks the sun's rays from reaching the ground directly. The fruit trees in Ghouta vary from: apricots, walnuts, grapes, local apples, olives, quinces, peaches, peaches, pomegranates, and berries. Grape cultivation abounds in the lands of Daraya and Duma. Olive cultivation is concentrated in the northern parts of Ghouta and the western and southwestern parts. Added to the foregoing are the groves of poplar trees in Eastern Ghouta, which have been known since very ancient times and with a considerable area, as they are considered one of the main agricultural wealth, in addition to the above. They are grown between trees and in the open spaces.
Ghouta is old, and this is evidenced by the large number of ruins from the destroyed villages and human hills, as in the land of the hills in the village of Haza, the land of the hill in the village of Zibdin, the hill of al-Froud in the land of the village of al-Muhammadiya, the hill of al-Bireh in al-Malihah, and Fatam al-Tallah in the Rihaniyyah .... etc. . The names of dozens of ancient, vanished villages are still known, as history books mention them. Each of the villages of the current Ghouta was built on the site of an old, vanished village. Most of the houses of the villages far from Damascus in Eastern Ghouta are still made of mud, while cement has become the dominant feature in the villages near Damascus. Rather, many of the villages of Ghouta have turned into neighborhoods of the city of Damascus (Jubar al-Qaboun, Barzet al-Mazza, Kafar Souseh) or continued. Those neighborhoods are administratively affiliated to the Damascus Countryside Governorate (Jaramana, Babila, Sayyida Zeinab, Zamalka, Irbin Ain Tarma, Harasta Duma district). The number of people currently living in Ghouta is estimated at about 500,000 people, distributed among approximately 30 large and small human settlements. The most important of these communities are: Darayya, Sehnaya, Ashrafieh Sehnaya, Sbeina Babila, Hajira al-Sayyida Zeinab, Yalda, Aqraba al-Maliha, Zabdin, Deir al-Asafir, Bala Ain Trama Haza Hamoura, Saqba, Kafr Batna, Jisreen, Al-Muhammadiyah Beit, Naim Hawsh Al-Salihiya, Zamalka, Irbin, Directorate of Beit Sawa, Afteris Al-Zarqiyyah, Al-Shafouniya, Mesraba, Al-Rayhan, Harasta Douma. These communities are connected to each other and to the city of Damascus by a network of good asphalt roads that can The most important axes are mentioned in the following - Figure (7).

Many vegetables, as well as limited areas of wheat, barley, and fodder crops on which large numbers of cows are raised.

1- The axis of Bab Sharqi - Kharabu, starting from Bab Sharqi and continuing east to Al-Nashabiyeh or Harran Al-Awamid, as it branches from it after Kharabu.