You might be slightly disappointed by the gentle curve of the Street called Straight, the Via Recta, laid out by the Romans two millennia ago and featuring a slight bend halfway along. But there's a big difference between a straight street, and one called straight. This is the ancient decumanus maximus, the 1.5km spinal cord of the ancient Roman city, connecting the west gate, Bab al-Jabiyah, now entombed beneath souk embellishments, all the way to the East Gate, Bab Sharqi. The street is famously mentioned in the New Testament as the place where St. Paul recovered his sight. If he opened his eyes today, he'd see a fascinating mix of the sacred and the commercial; from the Byzantine arch halfway down the street to the busy bazaar at its western end or the craft shops further east. Bab Sharqi, the old Gate of the Sun with its triple-arched facade, is the only original Roman gate still in use.