Places

The great Byzantine fortress-city of ?Resafa grew up on a site 30 kms south of the Euphrates River on the edge of the Syrian steppe. Its location resulted from the martyrdom on this spot of the Christian Roman soldier, Sergius, just before the accession of Constantine and the new policy of tolerance towards Christians. The […]

Most Roman roads have long ago succumbed to the elements or to stone-robbing. This section, admittedly restored in the 1930s, has survived partly because of its robust construction, intended to take the road over a saddle of the Jebel Srir (which lies to the south). It once served the important road from the provincial capital, […]

The Roman road joining Berytus (Beirut) and Heliopolis (Baalbek) to Damascus passed along the gorge of the Barada River. A cutting was made during the years AD 161–169 to raise the road well above the flood level of the winter torrents in the region. According to the inscriptions at the site, the people of nearby […]

Set in sweeping open country where the eastern edge of the Jebel Riha meets the Syrian Steppe to the east, Ruweiha is an inhabited village with two churches and remains of several tombs scattered between the houses. Most notable is the Church of Bissos, a complex apparently endowed by the local bishop, Bissos, in the […]

The Greek Orthodox Church of St Michael at Safita still occupies the fortified tower / church structure built under the Templars. De Laborde’s engraving from the 1840s shows the town walls  still surviving in part behind modern shops. ما تزال كنيسة القديس ميخائيل التابعة لطائفة اليونان الأرثوذكس تحتل أحد طوابق برج صافيتا الذي بناه فرسان […]

This monastery had been greatly expanded in recent years but at its core contains a small chapel possibly dating back to the time of Justinian (sixth century). توسع كثيراً هذا الدير في السنوات الماضية، إلا أن القسم الأصلي فيه يضم كنيسة قديمة ربما تعود لعهد الإمبراطور البيزنطي جوستنيان في القرن السادس الميلادي.  

One of the most extraordinary sites of the Byzantine period. This complex of four separate basilicas clustered around a central courtyard was designed to commemorate the column on which the Syrian ascetic ‘pillar saint’ (or stylite), Simeon, spent the last decades of his life, seeking isolation from all physical comforts. The site is described fully […]