Oldest color photo of Damascus — 1908
This was taken in a Damascus interior by French photographer Gervais Courtellemont in 1908, and gleaned off the internet. The Facebook website I got it from notes that the oldest color photo ever was taken by the Lumiere brothers in Lyon in 1907 using the same autochrome technology.
What epitomes of refinement old Damascus and old Aleppo were.. and old Bagdad, and old Mosul, and old Sanaa, old Mecca, old Medina, and old Jerusalem… now all gone.
So beautiful! And such a loss to the world.
Literally brings tears to my eyes, the devastation of such beautiful and priceless links to the past.