Souq scenes of markets, commerce, buildings and streetscapes. Notable artists in the Orientalist genre include: Jean-Léon Gérôme Delacroix (1824–1904), Alexandre-Gabriel Decamps (1803–1860), Frederic Leighton (1830-1896), Eugène Alexis Girardet 1853-1907 and William Holman Hunt (1827–1910) who all found inspiration in Oriental street scenes, trading and commerce. Souq A souq or souk (, "shuq", "shuka", Spanish: zoco, also spelled shuk, shooq, soq, esouk, succ, suk, sooq, suq, soek) is a marketplace or commercial quarter in Western Asian, North African and some Horn African cities () . The term "souq" goes by many alternatives in different parts of the world; in the Balkans, the
Al-Hamidiyah Souq been affected in any way by the ongoing war, although peaceful protests and demonstrations have taken place in the nearby Medhat Pasha Souq which extends from the Al Hamidiyah Souq. It was one of the treasures featured in the 2005 BBC documentary "Around the World in 80 Treasures" presented by Dan Cruickshank. Al-Hamidiyah Souq Al-Hamidiyah Souq () is the largest and the central souk in Syria, located inside the old walled city of Damascus next to the Citadel. The souq is about long and wide, and is covered by a tall metal arch. The souq starts at Al-Thawra street and