Wender·Vista
Homs
shown on ceramic, 12-inch tileSyria
on the Orontes River in western Syria

Homs

— — the city the river keeps coming back to.

— Where it lives

Not only on a wall.

A small tile on the nightstand catching the morning. A larger one above the fire. Yours, wherever you spend the slow hours.
— On the nightstand, a 6-inch on a walnut stand
— Among the books, a 6-inch leaning into the spines
— Beside the kettle, a 12-inch propped
— Down a quiet hall, an 18-inch floating off the wall
— Above the fire, the 24-inch in a walnut surround
— a note from the studio

“A city of about a million on the Orontes River, halfway between Damascus and Aleppo on the road north. Homs holds the tomb of the seventh-century general Khalid ibn al-Walid inside the Ottoman-revival mosque that carries his name. The old quarter took the heaviest damage in the long siege that ended in 2014, and is being rebuilt stone by stone.

from the studio
Homs
— bring it home

Homs, on ceramic.

Each tile is finished by hand in our Knoxville studio. Artwork is slowly infused into the ceramic surface under high heat and pressure, and rests beneath a thin glossy finish. The colour lives in the surface, not on top of it.

What kind of piece?
One tile — square or rectangle.
How big?
the popular one — counter, shelf, nightstand
6 × 6 in · 15 cm · 1.6 lb
Surface finish
A clear glossy finish — the artwork reads as if under resin. Ideal for show-pieces and framed wall art.
How it sits
A hidden cleat — sits ¼″ proud of the wall.
$58
Hand-finished and shipped from our studio at the foot of the Smokies. On your wall in about ten days.
— size
6 × 6 in
15 cm
— weighs
1.6 lb
solid in the hand
— surface
ceramic, hand-finished
art rests beneath a thin glossy finish
— from
Knoxville, TN
our family studio, at the foot of the Smokies
— start a Coaster Set

Pick any four 4-inch tiles — National Parks you've been to, a Smokies set, the four seasons of one place. $ for a set of , cork-backed, ready to live on the table.

— about Homs

The place, in three passes.

A little of what's known, in case you fall down the rabbit hole — or want to go see it yourself.
— the place

Homs sits on the eastern bank of the Orontes River in western Syria, about 162 kilometres north of Damascus and 193 kilometres south of Aleppo. Before the civil war the city was the country's third-largest, with roughly 1.2 million residents, and a regional centre for oil refining and agriculture. The Homs Gap, a low corridor between the Anti-Lebanon range and the Jabal an-Nusayriyah, has carried trade between the coast and the interior since antiquity and gives the city its strategic weight in the geography of the Levant.

— informed by Wikipedia — Homs
— the stone

The Khalid ibn al-Walid Mosque rises above the Old City with a black-and-white striped Ottoman-revival facade, completed in 1908 under Sultan Abdul Hamid II. The mosque holds the tomb of the seventh-century general who led the early Islamic conquest of the Levant. Its central dome and twin minarets took shell damage during the 2013 siege and have since been restored. Forty kilometres west, the Crusader castle of Krak des Chevaliers crowns its basalt hill, a UNESCO World Heritage site since 2006.

— the year

The 2011 to 2014 siege of the Old City emptied entire quarters; reconstruction work has been incremental since the army regained control in May 2014. UNESCO and Syrian heritage teams catalogued damage to the Khalid mosque, the Church of Saint Mary of the Holy Belt, and the covered souq. The Church of Saint Mary, a Greek Orthodox foundation, traces its building stones to the fourth century and reopened for services in 2014 after structural repairs. Footfall in the rebuilt quarters remains thin compared with pre-war years.

— where
Syria · Homs, Homs Governorate
— elevation
501 m · 1,644 ft
— position
34.7308° N · 36.7090° E
— the neighborhood

What's nearby.

A handful of named places within an hour's walk or short drive. Some we've already painted; some we will.
40 km W
Krak des Chevaliers
Crusader castle
47 km N
Hama
city
155 km E
Palmyra
ancient city
162 km S
Damascus
capital city
N
Homs
Krak des Chevaliers
Hama
Palmyra
Damascus
— common questions

What people ask.

A few questions we get about Homs — and about bringing the piece home.
— about the place

Homs sits on the Orontes River in western Syria, roughly halfway between Damascus and Aleppo on the M5 highway. The city is the capital of Homs Governorate and was Syria's third-largest before the civil war.

The Ottoman-revival mosque, completed in 1908, holds the tomb of Khalid ibn al-Walid, the seventh-century general who led the Muslim conquest of the Levant. It is a major pilgrimage site for Sunni Muslims.

The Old City endured a three-year siege from 2011 to 2014 and lost much of its historic fabric. Government forces regained control in May 2014, and reconstruction has continued slowly since.

A Greek Orthodox church in the Old City whose foundation stones date to the fourth century. It is named for a relic believed to be the belt of the Virgin Mary and reopened after structural repairs in 2014.

The Crusader castle stands about forty kilometres west of Homs on a basalt hill above the Homs Gap. It has been a UNESCO World Heritage site since 2006 and is among the best-preserved medieval castles.

— about the piece in your home

The piece carries the city quietly and at its best moments, which has mattered to customers with family there. A Small or Medium with a handwritten note from the studio is what most have chosen.

The deep blues and stained-glass cadence read well in Mediterranean, Mediterranean-modern, and Levantine interiors, and hold against warm plaster or terracotta wall colour. Less at home in cool minimalist palettes.

A single Large reads at couch scale, a 4-tile Mural fills the wall above a console, and a 9-tile Mural takes a feature wall. Step back about two metres to judge proportion before mounting.

Yes, in Dura Satin or Matte. Both finishes resist moisture and steam and clean with a microfibre cloth and water. Glossy is best reserved for dry display walls.

A microfibre cloth and clean water are enough for routine cleaning. Skip abrasive sponges and solvent-based cleaners; the colour lives in the surface and the thin glossy finish stays clear with plain water.

Yes. The piece is drawn and finished in our Knoxville studio. The visual language is our own and the tile is hand-finished. No third-party licensing on the artwork itself.

— if this one stayed with you

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