Galleries

Dana (South) — the ‘south’ is added to distinguish it from the other village of this name in the Jebel Semaan area — is a thriving modern village around which cluster many remains of an ancient past. The most prominent surviving monuments are the monastery, dubbed ‘Qasr al-Banat’) on the northwestern edge of the village […]

This busy town on the Plan of Dana, south of Jebel Sheikh Barakat, was still noted for several ancient structures in the accounts of late 19th and early 20th century European and American visitors. The only surviving remains is the canopied tomb, with a pyramid roof supported on four columns (probably 3rd or 4th century […]

The inner reaches of the Syrian coastal Mountains (Jebel Ansariye) are studded with castles built in inaccessible locations by the Ismaelis. During the Crusader period, this sect — an offshoot from Shi`ite Islam — built up their presence in these mountains to escape pressures from the orthodox Sunni powers of the Syrian interior, on the […]

Scene of the Battle of Qadesh, 13th century BC. Little of historic interest remains on the mound now occupied by the modern village but the visitor will gain an appreciation of the sequence of events that led to the historic clash between Egyptian and Hittite forces in the thirteenth century BC. The outcome of the […]

This small Roman temple dates from the early phase of the Roman occupation of Syria but was rebuilt in the late second century AD. Dedicated to a local manifestation of Zeus, it stood within an enclosure and backed onto a small lake. Mushennef lies on the eastern flanks of the Jebel Hauran. For further description, […]

This village tucked away in a ravine on the eastern slopes of the Anti-Lebanon range north of Damascus (Qalamoun region), hosts two important Christian pilgrimage centres.  On the town’s western outskirts above the ravine lies the important early Christian chapel of the Monastery of St Sarkis (Sergius). Below in the depths of the ravine, the […]

  For photos of the remains of a Roman temple found amid the modern buildings of this town in the Eastern Ghouta of Damascus, visit my Flickr site at — http://www.flickr.com/photos/monsyr/sets/72157627212697974/ لمشاهدة صور المعبد الروماني الموجود ضمن الأبنية الحديثة في وسط القرية الواقعة في غوطة دمشق الشرقية، يمكن العودة للموقع التالي:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/monsyr/sets/72157627212697974/ Location map—