Places

This Ayyubid fortified post looks down over the site of Palmyra and provides a wonderful vantage-point over the classical ruins, especially at sunrise or sunset. The castle was built as part of the Ayyubid efforts to protect the desert route between the Euphrates and Damascus, with further improvements under the early Mamluks. The castle was […]

An almost perfectly preserved example of a fortified Crusader-era tower, once part of the outer defences of the Hospitaller fortress at Tortosa (Tartus). تعتبر هذه القلعة نموذجاً شبه كامل لعمارة الأبراج المحصنة في الفترة الصليبية، وقد كانت فيما مضى جزءاً من نقاط الدفاع الخارجية عن تحصينات الفرسان الاوسبتاليين في طرطوس. Location map —     […]

One of the most intact examples of church architecture in the Limestone Massif area, the Qalb Lozeh basilica is also a bold attempt at experimentation in Byzantine construction history. Instead of dividing the nave from the side aisles by rows of columns, the builders used sweeping transverse arches resting on piers, allowing for a freer […]

This charming town nestled into the northwestern slopes of the Jebel Hauran contains many reminders of its rich ancient past. The main attraction — known to early European visitors as the ‘Seraya’ due to its resemblance to a ‘palace’ of a ruler — is more accurately a complex mixture of two separate Roman basilica structures […]

This small town on the eastern flanks of the Anti-Lebanon was not noted for its historic remains until recently. Two of its important Christian structures have now been restored or refurbished. The Great Mosque, though considerably remodelled over the centuries, still retains the west wall of the Byzantine Church of St Nicholas which stood on […]

Only a few fragments of the original structure remain at this site—the core of a Byzantine tower incorporated into the Umayyad structure and some gateposts of the entrances. To get some impression of the remains, more can be gained from a visit to the National Museum in Damascus, where the reconstructed great gateway and many […]

This fascinating complex, an example of the early Umayyad attempts to tame the Syrian interior and introduce irrigated agriculture to the steppe, lies almost 100 kms east of Palmyra. Two striking enclosures provided a complex to be used by the Caliph in his transit between Iraq and Syria. They also sheltered caravan traffic, brought a […]