Damascus is the capital and the largest city of Syria after Aleppo prior to the civil war. It is commonly known in Syria as ash-Sham (Arabic: الشام ash-Shām) and nicknamed as the City of Jasmine (Arabic: مدينة الياسمين Madīnat al-Yāsmīn). In addition to being one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, Damascus is a major cultural and religious centre of the Levant.