Galleries

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 […]

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 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 […]

The most significant ruins at this site are the two monumental tombs with pyramid roofs, a reasonably common type in this area in the fourth century AD. Butler describes them as ‘canopy tombs’. The other significant structure is a villa with columned portico. Remains of three churches are barely recognisable. The first photo gallery below […]

Kirkbizeh lies on the ridge looking over the Plain of Self from the west in the Jebel al-`Ala. Its access to the rich agricultural resources of the plain made this a prosperous village clustered around its manor house and church during the fourth to sixth centuries AD. تقع على إحدى قمم جبل العلا (أو الأعلى) […]

The Butler expedition in the early 1900s described Khirbet Hass as an extensive ruins field marked by villas and one church. Today it is the centrepiece of a small national park and hence a popular picnic spot on weekends. وصفت البعثة الأمريكية برئاسة بوتلر في بدايات القرن العشرين هذه البلدة بأنها منطقة زاخرة بالبقايا الأثرية […]

The Orontes crossing at Jisr al-Shugur has been important for millennia. It connects the Orontes Valley and the cities of the interior of northern Syria to the coast via the Bdama Pass over the Jebel Ansariye or Syrian coastal mountains. Little remains of the Roman bridge and its many successors though parts are still exposed […]