Courtyard and pool of the Bayt Shamiyya (Maison Chamieh), Damascus, Syria, with women in traditional costume. Located on Zankat Bab Tuma in the Christian Quarter of the old city, this house was built by the merchant and Spanish translator Antun Afandi al-Shami in 1863 after a less grand structure on the site was destroyed by fire. By 1876 it had been sold to Jibran Afandi Shamiya, a Christian delegate to the City Council.