Old Quwatli market a witness of al-Raqqa development

KHALED AL-JUMMA / AL-RAQQA

The old market in al-Raqqa city, known as al-Quwatli Street or al-Ateeq Street, is one of the oldest and most well-known markets in the city, the Bedouins and the people of al-Raqqa's rural are the permanent customers of this market where they exchange the goods of wool, milk, cheese and agricultural goods, the old market contains all the needs of the rural and nomadic people.

An overview of the history of the establishment of the old market

The establishment of the old market in al-Raqqa city is associated with its history, but it is not a very old history that chronicles the wall built in the era of al-Rasheed or Baghdad Gate, the history of the old market does not exceed two hundred years or more according to the accounts of the elderly in the market.

The owners of the first shops in the old market said that when their parents came to the city, the market was a hill of dirt (a high place), on the western side of it located the sheep market (Bazaar)

Two hundred years ago, the same goods were sold in the old market

Old shopkeepers in the old market still sell the same goods as their parents. As soon as I walked through the market, I noticed the old shops, whose owners remained fairly conservative, selling the same goods they had previously sold. Some of them were furriers and sellers of fur clothes. The type of clothes is widespread among rural and Bedouin people in winter.

Abdul Rahman al-Sultan, a 70-year-old market owner, said: "When my family came back to al-Raqqa, there was no bridge to cross, they crossed to al-Raqqa by ship from al-Sokhna area, to establish the first cheese and milk shop in the old market. "

How did the people of al-Raqqa buy foodstuffs and their needs from the market?

At the beginning of the establishment of the old market, a trade exchange took place between the Bedouins on the one hand and the shop owners on the other. The Bedouins and the rural people brought their goods from "ghee, cheese, wool and yogurt" to the shops, replacing them with other materials such as sugar, oil, soap, rice and others.

Dairy and cheese shops are the first shops that originated in the old market

The shops that sold milk and cheese, and the accessories of the tents inhabited by the Bedouins were the first to open in the market which established the old market, and traders who came from al-Sokhna area (an area belonging to the eastern countryside of Homs) known as al-Sakhani were the founders of the market, because of the Bedouins did not trade, but they were interested in livestock breeding.

What is the status of the old market among the people of the city and its fame?

The old market is the destination of the poorer sections of the rural and the city, and the most popular among the people in general; the market extends from the roundabout westward to al-Rasheed Wall in the east. The market is the center of economic and commercial activity in the city

The market is close to the center of the province, and from the old market Quwatli emerged many of the secondary streets that are now the important streets, which also became important markets, al-Mansour Street, Seif al-Dawla, and still has a special status to the people of al-Raqqa.

After the development that took place in the city, the people of the countryside and the Bedouins and the people of the city are paying the price of what they buy and now al-Quwatli market remains conservative its heritage and customers of the rural people who do not tire of moving between the shop and the other end of the market.

H/S

ANHA