She used to gather writers and host shows of storytellers and crackos
Old Jerusalem cafes .. Stories on straw chairs
Za'tara café staff before it closed in the 1970s.
Emirates today
Café «Siam» has been receiving its customers for 135 years .. They drink coffee and smoke the hookah of Al-Tabak Al-Ajami.
Emirates today
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Among the ancient narrow alleys, the Old City of the Holy City of Jerusalem includes dozens of historic cafes, whose establishment has passed for hundreds of years, most of which are still standing as they are with their doors and stones, embraced by the old walls, despite their forced closure with the passage of time and the departure of their owners.
Among the most famous of them are the Za'tara Café, which is located at the beginning of the entrance to the Damascus Gate, which was closed in the 1970s, and the "Al-Bassiti" Hospice Cafe on Al-Wad Street in the Old City, which has turned into a restaurant.
Despite the closure, its places remain as they are, everyone who passed through the Bab al-Amud road and the old lanes inside it can see them, while some cafes have been removed, and hotels, libraries and local residential buildings have been built in their place, most notably the Tramp Cultural Cafe.
These cafes have embraced over the ages and ages, the cultural elites of Jerusalem, and all those who traveled in the city of Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Church of the Resurrection, Arab, Islamic and Palestinian, such as Ahmed Al-Shugairi and Khalil Al-Sakakini, and today they store in their memory the stories of those who lived inside the neighborhoods of the Holy City, and passed through its streets And its antique alleys.
Stones that did not disappear
Among the dozens of historical cafes in the Old City of the Holy City of Jerusalem, the Abu Ahmed Siyam Café at the entrance to the Al-Attarin Market remained steadfast, as its stones, which were built 135 years ago, have not disappeared yet, and are still remaining until the moment and embrace everyone who lives in Jerusalem and comes to it wandering.
The "Siam" cafe is located at a crossroads leading to the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, and one of its corners overlooks the two markets of Al-Qattanin and Khan Al-Zayt, in a scene that sends contemplation and reassurance to everyone who comes to this ancient place.
The doors of the "Siyam" cafe are still open until the moment, managed by Musa Siyam (55 years old), after he inherited it from his father, and his grandfather, the first founder of the old cafe, while it receives customers daily, especially the elderly, who spent their years among its corners, as they gather inside it Every day they drink coffee, and smoke the hookah of Al-Ajami.
Siam the grandson, who has been working in his grandfather café since 1985, says: “Historic cafes were set up in the Old City in the center of Jerusalem. They used to receive merchants and expatriates from all regions, to relax on straw benches and sip Arabic coffee. My grandfather's cafe witnessed At the end of the Ottoman era, it was opened by the reception of many Arab visitors and residents of the Palestinian areas, who were flocking to Jerusalem to pray, trade, and visit relatives.
He explains that his grandfather's café has gained importance due to its location, as it is located near the Al-Aqsa Mosque, adding: “My grandfather used to bring water from the wells of the Holy Mosque, to prepare tea and coffee, and lemonade, tamarind and licorice drinks, which were served daily to customers.”
History of cafes
Historic cafes in the Holy City of Jerusalem, especially the Old City, had a prominent role in forming a part of the cultural scene of the Holy City since its inception, as the first café that the ancient alleys witnessed was in the 16th century, and this scene remains present to this day with the existence of these places, until After it closed its doors.
To talk about the history of the emergence of popular and cultural cafes in the holy city of Jerusalem, Emirates Today met with a tourist guide and researcher in the history of Jerusalem, Robin Abu Shamsieh, who said that Jerusalem was among the first Arab cities that coffee reached in the 16th century during the Ottoman era. In light of the urban movement brought about by Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent.
He added that the oldest café in Jerusalem is the "Coffee House", near the Alaeddin Al-Busiri Bathhouse in Al-Qarmi Quarter, built in 1578, and today it turned into a residential house. Then the spread of cafes at the gates of the Holy City, most notably the Damascus Gate, which witnessed the opening of a cafe “Muhammad Pasha” in 1651, while the eastern part of the historic gate witnessed the presence of four cafes, namely: Café Aref Za'tara, Café Ali Izheiman, Café Khalil Negm, Café Siam, and in the late Ottoman period and the beginning of the twentieth century, the Mina Café was opened.
Abu Shamsiah notes that during the British Mandate period, the city of Jerusalem witnessed the spread of cafes inside and outside the Old City walls, including the Nabulsi Café in an Indian architecture, and an essential café in the Al-Rus Quarter opposite the Sansour Building in 1918.
Jerusalem storyteller
The role of cafes in Jerusalem was not limited to serving coffee to its patrons, as the residents held cultural sessions inside cafes, and seminars for the notables of the country to consult on various issues, and after that, the matter developed and became present to its patrons the popular theater, karakouz and storyteller. In 1799, and Sayed Jawdat al-Hilli, who worked as a storyteller in a café in Bab Hatta in the late Ottoman era, according to Rubin Abu Shamsiyeh, a researcher in the history of Jerusalem.
The researcher points out that among the cafes that were famous for this role, the Al-Basti Café on Al-Wad Road, the Ali Izheiman Café, which specialized in reciting literature and poetry, and the Tramp Cafe, which was founded by the writer, Khalil Sakakini, and was dedicated to politics and literature.
The cafes embraced the cultural elites of Jerusalem, and all those who left in the city.
The Abu Ahmad Siyam cafe at Al-Attarin market was built 135 years ago, and the “coffee house” in Al-Qarmi neighborhood was built in 1578.
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