Damascus | Oct. 20, 2026, 3:38 p.m. ET | 4 min read

As Syrians pick up the pieces of their war-ravaged country, Fayez Talmasani is opening a window to one of the Middle East’s oldest art forms for the first time in half a century.

And as Damascus slowly rebuilds, he hopes that sharing his secrets will meet a rising demand to rely on a legacy of Syria’s past to make the city’s future physically brighter.

For Mr. Talmasani, up until recently, was the last person in Syria skilled in producing muashaq , or stained-glass windows, a Damascene art for 2,000 years.

Muashaq has long been a symbol of Damascus architecture, with stained glass an art form in the city dating back to the first century. Intricate mosaic-like stained glass windows were commonly placed in Damascus homes and places of worship, filtering in a kaleidoscope of colors in vibrant geometric forms.

Taylor Luck

A finished stained-glass artwork hangs at the Damascene Dream Institute workshop, in Damascus, Syria, Sept.…