Mount Nebo is the place where God had ordered Moses to go to the top of the Arabot mountains, to mount Nebo, in the country of Moab, opposite to Jericho, to see the Promised Land and to die on the mountain where he will go.. At 46 km only to the West of Amman, at 838 m of altitude, the irresistible sight on the Holy City of Jerusalem and the Jordan valley can make emerge in you nostalgia to the old history and a better comprehension of the Actuality..! Moreover, this site will not fail to surprise you with its mosaics which testify the finesse of the Byzantines.

Kerak

Kerak is the old capital of the country of Moab, it appears in the bible under the name of Qir-Heres. Moreover, it is crowned by the ruins of a fortress built by the Crusaders, This city at 1000 m of altitude and 120 km from Amman . A worthy work of art that competes with the famous "Crac des Chevaliers". A lordship of Montreal since 1140, this one falls to Renault de Chatillon after its arranged marriage with Etiennette de Milly. Consequently, the history did not cease multiplying!! The guide will go on with you through time to make you live in the world of Crusaders

Madaba

 Madaba always preserves a very important Byzantine archaeological park. Containing the greatest Christian community,More than 150 churches, in the city and its surroundings, trace the history of the Byzantine occupation and its evolution. Moreover, the Map of Palestine in Madaba represents a priceless interest for the study of the topography of Palestine and the countries of vicinity.

Petra
Petra, Mentioned in the bible under the name of Reqem (the "Multi-colored one"),an extraordinary site located at 235 km of Amman , Petra offers to you the occasion to admire the beauty of nature, to go back in condition, and to live the history through its monuments. A visit of one or several days can only create a love relationship giving you the desire for returning or for sending somebody from your side.

The High Lights of SYRIA
DAMASCUS
Damascus, one of the oldest cities in the world, a city that was continuously inhabited since the millennium. A prosperous city from the 2nd millennium, that the Aramaeans made the capital of a powerful kingdom till the 1st millennium, after which the Assyrians possessed the city in the year 732 BC. It's a multi-millennium city that one must see at least once in a lifetime. The more that one discovers this city, the more to be influenced by its charm.

Seydnaya

A convent built in 547 housing one of the four icons made by the apostle Luke featuring the Virgin Mary.

Ma'alula
An impressive screen of mountains conceals a little Christian village with houses painted in periwinkle blue. Its inhabitants still speak Aramaic, the language of Christ. One of the oldest churches in Syria overhangs the village, Mar Sarkis church, where one can admire icons dating back to the 16th and 18th centuries.

Yabroud
This site inhabited for tens thousands of years, belonged to Agrippa the 2nd, who received it from the emperor Claude in 53 AD. The Byzantines used some of the elements of the temple of Jupiter to construct a church that today houses a beautiful collection of icons.

Deir Mar Mousa
located near Al Nabeck , Here one can admire a monastery and a chapel dating back to the 6th century AD that was abandoned in the 17th century AD. It was probably discovered by Saint Mousa the Ethiopian (Moses). Apart from the frescoes realized in the 7th century AD, others that were painted in the 11th century bring much charm to this antique place of worship hidden in the Syrian Mountains.

BOSRA
Bosra is situated on a basaltic plateau in the heart of the fertile region of the Hauran. Its black rocks, employed in construction for many centuries, give much originality to the entire region. Moreover, the solidness of the basalt has allowed the erected monuments to face admirably the ravages of time. 

Sweida
In spite of the fact that the antique village is actually concealed under modern constructions, one can still visit superb mosaics and sculptures exposed in the town's museum and admire the four columns of the Nabatean temple as well as the remains of a
Large basilica, dating back to the 4th century AD.

Qanawat
Qanawat was founded towards the 1st century BC. Its name is mentioned in the Bible when, under the reign of Herod Agrippa, the region was victim of bandits. It then became a region of conflict between the Nabateans and the Jewish Kingdom. Town of the Decapolis from the time of Pompei until the beginning of the 2nd century AD, Septimus
Severus gives it the name of "Septima Canatha" and of Syrian "Provincia". The town attains the level of "Provincia Arabia". Before the town falls into the hands of the Muslims in 637, Christianity develops (4th and 5th century AD), and two basilicas were erected as well as a collection of buildings called "serail", a Byzantine religious complex built around an "atrium".

Shahba
First Hellenistic until the 4th century BC, then Nabatean to the 1st century AD, Shahba transforms itself into a model Roman town.

In 244 AD, Philip the Arab, descendent of this small village, becomes Roman emperor and decides to reorganize its city-plan. He decorates the town with new monuments (triumphal arch, theatre, thermal baths, palaces, agoras, temples, etc.) and re-baptizes it Philippopolis. It is to be noted that four frescoes of great beauty (4th century AD) found "in situ" are exposed in the town's museum.

Ezraa
Here one finds a Greek Orthodox Church that figures amongst the oldest still in use in Syria. Erected in 515 AD on the site of an ancient temple, it is the oldest basilica in the world built according to an octagonal plan and crowned with a dome. Two hundred meters away, one finds a second church (Greek Catholic) called the Church of Saint-Elias dating from 542 AD. It is cruciform and east- west oriented. Originally its dome was made of wood. Still in the region, one can visit the remnants of habitats dating back to the Roman period.

Deraa
Today the capital of "Mohafazat" (administrative region), Deraa has an antique theatre and the Al Omar Mosque. Lawrence of Arabia became a prisoner here by a Turkish garrison during an intelligence mission in 1918.

ALEPPO
Aleppo disputes with Damascus the title of the "the world's oldest continuously inhabited city" , the Syria's second city . It has always an important political and economical role.. The first human community at the origin of Aleppo lived in a place commonly known as El Maghayer, meaning "the caves", near to Aleppo .It figures under the name of "Halab" from the 3rd and 2nd milleniums in the archives of Ur and of Mari. In 1780 it becomes the capital of a prosperous but coveted kingdom: The Yamhad, Egyptian, Babylonian and Hittite texts of the 17th century BC .

in the 17th century BC Undergoing Hittite domination, then in the 14th century BC Mitanian domination, the city falls into the Hittite belt towards 1370 BC. In the 9th century BC, Aleppo is an Aramaean capital then the Assyrians (738), the Babylonians (6th century BC) and the Persians all took turns in conquering the city. Re-baptized "Beroia" and constructed according to a Hippodamian plan when the Seleucids hellenize Syria, it remains in the shadow of Antioch, the capital of the empire. From 64 to the 2nd century AD, it is a Roman town. From the 4th to the 6th century a Byzantine town, and finally from 637 a Muslim town. Under the Abbassids, then the Muslim chief, Saif Ed Daouleh makes it the capital of the principality of Hamdanit, in 944.

The emperor Nicephore Phocas, nearly destroyed Aleppo, after he was taken It From 964. A period of troubles began by ending with the Bedouin dynasty of Mirdassis (1023-1079), however, Saladin who achieved the unity of Egypt and Syria took possession of Aleppo in 1183 and put Aleppo in charge of the Jihad against the Crusaders. His son organized the building of the wall of stones, which, to this day is still surrounding the citadel. Al Zahir Ghazi ordered the building of almost thirty "Madrasa" (Koran schools), mosques (one of which is the Great Mosque), "khanqas" (places for mystics), souks, and caravansary and also restored the canalization. After an exceptionally prosperous period under the Ayyubids, Aleppo suffered hard the consequences of the pillages by the Mongols, and the Mamelukes took advantage of this weakness and controlled the town. It was not until 1516 that Aleppo once again found its commercial dynamism with the Ottoman domination. From 1535, France, England, and Denmark opened their counters to Aleppo, which made the town prosperous and cosmopolitan. In 1946, on the creation of the Syrian Arab Republic, Aleppo returned into the shadow of its capital, Damascus.

Saint -Simon
In Arabic "Qalaat Seman", that bears the name of the ascetic Saint- Simon (4th century AD), who spent forty-two years of his life here. It’s isolated on the top of a column that was several times made higher (reaching up to about 20 m). His reputation was such that he was known as far away as the occident. After his death, the hill where he had lived became a much- frequented place of pilgrimage. In the 5th century, a "martyrium" was built: an immense cruciform church, with in the middle, the remains of the column of Saint-Simon. Chapels, a monastery and a baptistery were erected around the church, as well as "hotels" to welcome the pilgrims.
The Byzantines occupied and fortified the site in the 10th century before it was once again abandoned. It is to be noted that at the foot of the hill of Saint-Simon, a village: Deir Semaan, relayed to the monastery by a processional road, also housed many pilgrims.

Ebla
The site also known under the name of Tell Mardikh, dates back to the 4th millenium BC. The center of Ebla, the acropolis, progressively took importance until it became the capital of a powerful kingdom north of Syria. Its walls housed at this time some 30 000 people. Between 2400 and 2250 BC, the royal palace "G" was constructed. Ebla knew a period of glory that attracted much lust, like when it was pillaged and burned towards 2250 BC by Naram Sin. The town, was born again from ashes, restarted commercial activities and grew despite the second destruction in 2000 BC. Temples and three palaces where built. Ebla became politically weaker during the Assyrian domination and in 1625 BC, and the Hittites ravaged it. Ebla never recovered. Little by little its inhabitants deserted the town and it fell into oblivion....

Dead City
An extraordinary site: 700 towns spread over a perimeter of 2 000 Km2. To qualify them as "dead" seems displaced when one contemplates them today. It seems, in fact, as if their inhabitants have just left the site, so much the conservation is exceptional, thanks to the quality of the stone. From the 1st to 6th centuries, the region distinguished itself by its olivaries. They were developed and especially popular, thanks to the system of "murgasa"
Which was consisted in offering a peasant some capital and land that he must cultivate until production. Then, the owner recuperates half of the land and the peasant keeps the other half. From the 6th century onwards, the Byzantine-Persian wars ruined this micro-economy.
With the Muslim conquests in the 7th century, the villages were no longer able to trade with the Christian West, and they lost their population abruptly.

Ain Dara
Occupied since the 1st millenium until the time of the Seljuqs, the town became a small Aramaean kingdom towards 1190 BC, a Neo-Hittite civilization develops building the temple of Ishtar between the 10th and 9th century BC. Ain Dara, destroyed in the 7th century BC and rebuilt in the 4th century BC, prospers during the Roman period then slowly withers after the Muslim conquest.

Cyrus
Cyrus carries the name of a Macedonian town: Cyrhos. Capital of the Cyrestic,
(Province of the Seleucid kingdom), the town served as a shield against invasions.
It was also the crossroad of the northern roads and the home of a flourishing agriculture. Occupied from the 2nd century AD, it served as a base for the military campaigns carried out against the Armenians of the north. In the 3rd century AD, its role of caretaker of the border was appropriated by Hierapolis (Membij). Persians then occupied it twice until Theodoret of Cyr (423 to 450 AD) renovated and fortified it in line with his border work project aimed at containing the Persian attacks. Thus, under the name of Hagiopolis, the town was known as a regain of activity, especially religious: pilgrims came in great numbers to render homage to Saint-Cosmas and Saint-Damian. Troubles disrupt northern Syria in the 6th and 7th centuries resulting in a reduction of activities that was only accentuated under the successive dominations (Latin, Armenian and Arab), until the 13th century when Cyrus fell into oblivion.

Kirkbizeh
This ancient Christian village is built around a house dating from the 3rd century, transformed into a church the following century. It contains relies of one of the first martyrs. The first Christians clandestinely celebrated their masses here until the Edit of Milan (313).

Qalb Lhoze
Qalb Lhoze signifies in Arabic "the heart of an almond". Behind this charming name lies a little village and above all a remarkable basilica having probably served as a model for the churches of the region. This church built towards 450 is dedicated to Saint-Michael and Saint-Gabriel.

Top^

Maarat En-Numan
Maarat En-Numan for a long time carried the name of Arra. It was then a Greek-Roman town, which was taken and destroyed by the Byzantine emperor Nicephore Phocas in 968. In 1099, Maarat En-Numan witnessed a terrible event that marked the Crusaders just as much as the "Saracen" episode: On the road to Jerusalem, the Crusaders stopped and massacred 20 000 people. With Christmas approaching, pushed by hunger, they committed acts of cannibalism on the bodies. It was not until 1135 that they left the site driven out by Zhengi the Turk. Later on, the Muslims built mosques, of which was the Great Mosque and khans and on top, the remnants of the old town. To visit: Khan Murad Pasha today is converted into a museum of Roman and Byzantine mosaics.

El-Bara
El-Bara is one of the greatest "dead cities" both in size and importance. In fact it remained for a long time a first class center of communication, but the prosperity of the town leant also on a dynamic agriculture and also on the fact that it housed an important religious center. The Crusaders arrived here in 1023 but their presence would be short lived: they were expulsed in 1098 following the massacres committed in Maarat En Numan. Today, a cathedral, four churches (5th and 6th centuries), tombs with pyramidal roofing (5th century), wine-presses, two store houses and a rich Roman villa (3rd century) transformed into a convent, bear witness to the glory of this by-gone age.

Sergilla
Modest but well conserved, this village, apart from its private habitats and agricultural villas, includes a necropolis, a church, thermal baths, winepresses and an "androon" where the local officials met up.B

Hama
Fifth town of Syria, one often qualifies Hama as traditionalist due to its religious conservatism but also romantic with its norias, huge wheels of wood that have not stopped turning since the 14th century. As small Aramaean town, it was annexed by the Assyrians in 820 BC. Few monuments resisted the successive occupations, Seleucid, Roman, Byzantine, and the Arab empires. 
The Seleucides gave it the name of Epiphania in honor of Antiochos 4th Epiphania, their leader. Situated practically at the halfway point between Aleppo and Damascus, Hama was often the object of territorial quarrels between the rival dynasties of Aleppo and Damscus, especially during the very agitated 11th and 12th centuries. The first norias were constructed during the Ayyubid period, a period of great prosperity. The Mamelukes and the Ottomans followed the example. Saladdin developed here an orthodox Sunnism that one finds today in the sharp traditionalism of its inhabitants.

Aphamea
Aphamea is one of the four towns (The Tetrapolis) founded by Seleucos 1st Nicator at the beginning of the 3rd century BC, but the human occupation of the site goes back to Neolithic times. Hellenized at the end of 5th century BC, it was firstly rebaptized Pharnake then Pella after the conquest of Alexander in 333 BC. In 64 BC, Syria became Roman. The citadel of Aphamea was destroyed but the town continued to prosper as a military base until 2nd century AD, when the construction of the remnants that one can today admire was started: 

A colonnade surrounded by public monuments such as the thermal baths, a theatre, temples and villas. Following several earthquakes in 115, Trajan ordered the restoration of the town. As for the colonnade of the principal highway, it was completed under the reign of Marc Aurelius. Apart from its economic importance, Aphamea became the center of a school of neo-platonic philosophy that particularly bloomed in the 4th century. During the Byzantine period, it was also the home of the adepts of the "mono-physical doctrine " and provincial capital, head of a bishopric in the 5th century. Before the Persians occupied it in 573, they pillaged and burnt it. Passing between the hands of the Byzantines and the Arabs, it was bought from the principality of Antioch by the Crusaders until 1149, when Nour Ed Din took possession. Finally a huge earthquake (1157) destroyed the town, limiting the human settlement to the citadel.
The caravansary and the mosque from the 16th century illustrate the role later played by the town as a resting-place on the way to Mecca.

Misyaf
In the 12th century, a system of fortresses was put in place, by the Ismaelians in order to escape the persecutions from the orthodox Sunnite regimes of Aleppo and Damascus. The fortress of Misyaf, therefore, had a defensive role during the Seleucid, Roman and Byzantine periods before falling under the control of the Crusaders in 1103. In 1140, Ismaelians, who made of it (for more than two centuries) the center of their sect, led by the famous "old man from the mountains", took the fortress.

The Castle Ibn Wardan
Undoubtedly, one of the most beautiful from the archaeological point of view, the fortress was constructed under the care of Justinius during his last reigning year (564 AD). The complex, palace, church, and military huts, was destined to control the nomad Arab population rather than to ward off the threat of a Persian invasion.

Homs
Today capital of Mohafazat (administrative region) and first industrial and agricultural town of Syria, it was known in the past under the name of Emese where the empresses Julia Domna, Julia Maesa, Julla Mammea and Julia Soemia were born. In the 4th century BC, head of a bishopric, an important Christian community developed. Catacombs, decorated with mosaics, were found here. Later, the town, suffering the pillages and fires of the successive conquerors, saw its archaeological patrimony dry up.

The Crac des Chevaliers
The strategic value of this place has been known for thousands of years: the Egyptians went into battle here against the kingdom of Mitanni then against the Hittites in the 15th and 13th centuries. In 1031 AD, a Kurdish emir built the first fortress "Hosn El Akrad" or The "Fortress of the Kurds". 
Raymond of Saint-Gilles and his troops drove them out in 1099 AD. However, it is not until 1110 that the French Crusaders, thanks to Tancarade, decide to install themselves and build a fortress, systematically restored after each Muslim assault. These works were interrupted in 1271, when the sultan Baybars takes possession of this stronghold that had already resisted Nour Ed Din, Saladin, and Adel Abou Baker. The Crac was in between time sold to the "Hospitaliers" (monk-soldiers) in 1142 by Raymond 2, the count of Tripoli. The chapels converted into Mosques and the Latin inscriptions erased, the site served for a long time as a military base from where the war against the Crusaders was led and later the Muslim village people made it their home. They were not evacuated from the fortress until 1934.

Safita
The village is constructed around the citadel: "Castel Blanc". It is mentioned in the Arabic archives as being the property of the count of Tripoli in 1112 AD. The first fortress was, mostly, destroyed by Nour Ed Din. Later, the Templars, in charge of the defense of the region, rebuilt and fortified it. "Castel Blanc" fell into the hands of the Baybars in 1271, just before the latter took possession of the Crac des Chevaliers.

Amrit
Occupied from the 3rd millenium BC, the site took the name of Marathos during the antiquity. At the time of the Persians, when the nearby island of Arwad was Phoenician
Capital called Arados, Amrit was its continental suburb. In the 1st millenium, it was at its pinnacle as later following the conquest of Syria by Alexander the Great in 333 BC. Marathos begins to decline, finally being abandoned in the 2nd century AD. One can still admire today the hypogeum tombs and a very beautiful temple: Ma'abed, from the Persian period (between 6th and 4th century BC).

Arwad
This small island with a sultry past is the same one that is cited in Genesis in the Bible. The presence of a stream of fresh water favored the human occupation of the area from very early on and allowed it to resist several very long sieges. Originally, (a Canaanite urban center), the island is taken by the Pharaoh Touthmes 3rd, during his fifth campaign in Syria. The Phoenicians used it as a coastal population base, and the Assyrians and the Achemenid Persians invested it also. In 333 BC, Gerostratos, the king of Arwad hurries to put his kingdom at the disposition of the Seleucid invader, an act that allows Arwad to maintain a certain amount of independence.
Its influence lessens simultaneously with the rise in power of Tartous, another near continental town. The island becomes a museum-town. Saint- Paul stopped here during his journey to Rome. A Byzantine naval base, Arwad falls under Arab domination in 460 and finally the Templars occupied it until the massacre of the last troops of the Crusaders in 1302.

Tartous
Under the name of Antirados (Anti-Rados: opposite Arwad), it allowed the Phoenicians to make the liaison with Arwad. It took the name of Tortose under the French Crusaders, and when the freedom of worship was accorded to the first Christians, pilgrims came here in great numbers to visit the first church consecrated to Mary (by Saint-Peter himself according to the legend). Raymond of Saint- Gilles took Tortose in 1102 and then the French Crusaders decided to erect the cathedral of "Our Lady of Tortose" on the same- spot as the first church in 1123 AD. Towards 1165, the Templars kept the fortress and resisted to the assaults of Saladin in 1188. But Saladin, as the Baybars would later do when unable to capture the fortress, destroyed the town. Tortose finally fell into the hands of the Muslims in 1291. Afterwards, the cathedral knew several transformations: into a mosque, Turkish military barracks, and then into a museum in 1956.

Al Marqab Castle
The Muslims Built in 1062, the "Look-Out Castle" passed over to the Byzantines in 1104 and to the French Crusaders during its surrender to Roger of Antioch. The order of the "Hospitaliers" made the fortress bigger in order to make an impregnable stronghold [end 12th century) which suffered the attacks of the Arabs after Crac des Chevaliers had fallen into the hands of the latter. After five months of siege, the sultan Qalaoun took over the stronghold, which in turn served in the struggle against the Crusaders. A village developed "intra-muros" then the site fell into oblivion towards the 19th century.

Lattakia
It was a small Phoenician village, the Assyrians, the Persians, then the Seleucids took turns in conquering it. Lattakia, becoming Laodicee, had an important role in the Kingdom of Seleucos 1st Nicator (311 - 281 BC); the first harbor that works and a large producer of wine. At the IInd century. Septime Severe, preferring it to Antioch named Lattakia the capital of Syria. He had numerous works of enlargement and renovation carried out like the construction of four colonnaded roads, but the conquests, which followed and above all the successive earthquakes of 494 and 555 destroyed these improvements. Justinian rebuilds the town. The Byzantines, the Turks, the Crusaders and finally Saladin in 1188, conquered the town. Pillaged and burnt by the Chypriot Crusaders, Lattakia lost its importance with the passing of time. At the beginning of this century, it was only a simple fishermen's village. When Syria lost Antioch, the port was reborn and prosperity returned.

Ugarit
It called Ras Shamra in Arabic, goes back to the 7th millennium BC. The period during the 2nd millennium BC was of important urban expansion of which the discovery of houses, funeral caves, and two temples dedicated to Dagan and Baal and a Palace (15th BC) is proof. The construction of a royal palace and new living areas made the town a real urban agglomeration. An important intellectual center, a type of cuneiform writing was invented here, the world's first alphabet. Following significant advancements in navigation and commerce, due to the excellent relations with the Egyptians, the town, richer, adorns itself with new homes and the palace is enlarged in the 14th and 13th century BC. Falling under Hittite occupation, the town was obliged to pay an annual contribution. Ugarit was destroyed by the arrival of the "People of the Sea" and disappeared towards 1180 BC.

Top^

The Castle of Saladin
The Phoenicians erected a fortress that was captured by Alexander the Great In the 1st millennium BC, then the Byzantines, and finally the Crusaders in 1108. The latter erected a large rampart and dug a hole in the rocks surrounding their greatest Syrian possession, which the Muslims took over in 1188 and which became the Castle of Salah Ed Din, or Saladin. The same year the Mamelukes occupied it.

PALMYRA
The- pearl of the desert, What surprises, but also what delights to discover after hours of driving through an immense rocky expanse, the drop of water, Magnificent remnants lost in the middle of the desert, this oasis never fails to make one dream. People from all over the world come to admire the sun go down on this large village that once. The capital of an empire, made Rome tremble. Its name, Tadmor, appears for the first time in the Mesopotamian texts dating back to the 2nd millenium BC. The Greeks made it a town organized according to Hellenistic conceptions and re-baptized it Palmyra. Tribes of various origins (Aramaeans, Iranians, Arabs, Phenicians, etc.) at that time, constituted the essential of the population (3rd century BC), until 64 BC when Pompei installs himself in Syria. Under Tibere (from 14 to 37 AD), the site is definitively controlled by Rome. Palmyra, profiting under the "Pax Romana" and perceiving "customs duty" for all products imported into its empire and transiting through the town (obligatory stop-over on the silk road), becomes considerably wealthier. The emperor Adrian, visiting in 129 AD gives back Palmyra its status of a free town. The town therefore receives taxes from Rome and in doing so becomes even richer. The majority of the monuments that are still admired today date from this period: The temple of Baal Shamin, The Agora, and The Great Colonnade. In 212 AD, Caracalla (of Syrian origin) allows Palmyra to attain the title of "colonia" or colony of the Roman Empire.
Its role extends to the defense of the "limes" against the threats of the Persians. The weakening of the Roman empire shows in the fact that Palmyra progressively manages to widen its zone of influence, but this success displeases its leaders. After an audacious victory over the Persians in 260, the King Odenat proclaims himself the "King of Kings".
Assassinated, his famous widow, Zenobia, pushes their son, Wahaballat, onto the throne and in his name throws herself into reckless conquests. Finding herself at the head of an empire stretching from Egypt to Anatoly, she embodies a challenge for Rome, who reacts in the person of Aurelian. In 271, Palmyra being under siege submits, but Zenobia flees. She is captured as she prepares to cross the Euphrates and was probably taken to Rome.
Her end remains uncertain. Two years later, following a rebellion by its inhabitants, Palmyra is pillaged and destroyed, with its people massacred by Aurelian. Palmyra never again finds its past splendor. The remnants of churches and the mention of a Palmyran bishop in the list of priests present at the Council of Nicee (325 AD) attest to an occupation of the town during the Byzantine period. In the 17th century AD, the Druze Emir Fakhr Ed Din builds a castle hanging over the site of Palmyra: it is often spoken of as "the Arab Castle". In becoming Muslim, Palmyra retakes her old name of Tadmor. The stones of numerous edifices are re-used in the construction of private habitats.
In 1132, the temple of Bel was transformed into a fortress and the "cella"into a mosque.

Qasr El-Hir Ash-Sharqi
It was constructed in 728 AD, during the Omayyad period, under the reign of the Caliph Hisham. Over the 850 hectares of ground in the surrounding area, limited by a wall of bricks of twenty-two kilometers, agriculture was made possible, thanks to an irrigation system. This desert observation post constituted a place of rest where one hunted for leisure. It also allowed the control of the traffic of goods coming from Persia. The Abbasids also occupied it before it became definitively abandoned after the Mongol invasions (13th century AD).

Qasr El-Hir Al-Gharbi
The Palmyrans were the first to be established on this site in the 1st century AD, but it was abandoned after their revolt in 273 AD. The Byzantines and their local ally, the tribe of the Ghassanides, recuperated the site in 559 AD and built a monastery here. The Omayyad Caliphs, natives of the Arabian desert, made of it a place of relaxation and leisure and built hunting "lodge" (the initiative of Caliph Hisham in 727 AD). 
In practice, the castle served to consolidate their ties with the tribes and affirm their position at the limits of the kingdom. The Ayyubids and the Mamelukes occupied the site until the Mongol invasion after which the site was deserted.

Dura Europos
'The Pompei of the Syrian Desert".
Founded in 303 BC by Nicator, a general of Seleucos 1, on the site of an Assyrian fortress named Dawara, the town becomes Dura, meaning fortress in the ancient semite language, and Europos in memory of the birthplace of Seleucos 1 Nicator in Macedonia. Dura Europos, designed to welcome Greek and Assyrian settlers, was also part of a network of military colonies that secured control of the central region of the Euphrates. The town organized itself like a draught-board according to a Hippodamian plan, housing blocks of 35 by 70 meters, including 8 houses, separated by perpendicular streets. The palace and the temples were to the south of the town. By the 2nd century BC, the town had enlarged. After the Seleucides, the Parths were the new masters for a period of approximately three centuries starting from 113 BC. Previously defensive, the town becomes residential and
Commercial with a population more and more cosmopolitan: Iranians and Semites joining the Greeks. In the 2nd century BC, the region of the Euphrates falls under Roman control. From this period, only the triumphal arch and the Roman citadel remain. In 161 AD, an earthquake seriously damages the town but not destroying it as in 212 AD. It receives the honorable title of "Colonia Romana". Due to the threat posed by the Sassanides, the site was fortified: reinforcement soldiers arrive and among them Palmyran peasants.

Mari
Mari was founded in the 3rd millenium BC in order to control the river and caravan traffic from which the town perceived taxes. Between 2000 and 2340 BC, Mari, which dominated the whole of the Mesopotamia, is at its apogee but must give a tax to Ebla. This richness makes many envious and among them Sargon of Akkad to whom one attributes the destruction of the town in 2340 BC. At the end of the 3rd millenium, the kings of Ur stretch their suzerainty over Mari. From 2100 BC to 1800 BC, the "Shakkanak" govern and the town depends upon Akkad. The 18th century BC is marked by the glorious reign of Zamri Lim who built a palace of 300 richly decorated rooms, serving as an active political, economical, and administrative center. After the Assyrian occupation, (1800 BC), and a brief period of independence, (1775 to 1760 BC), Mari was destroyed by Hammurabi in 1758 BC.

Top^

Halabiye
Previously a Roman garrison town bearing the name of Birtha, it took the name of Zenobia (a tribute to the Queen of Palmyra) after the victory of Odenathus over the Persians in 270 AD. During the 3rd century Diocletian reestablished the limes and fortified Zenobia. Justinian restored the town in the 4th century and later the Arabs constructed a fortress.

Zalabiye
The town is opposite to Halabiye, on the other side of the Euphrates. In fact, these two towns are situated at the most-narrow point of the Euphrates. The function of Zalabiye was to control the river and to assist the pilgrims visiting the tomb of Saint- Serge in Rassafa. Zalabiye was largely destroyed because of an earthquake, erosion and the re-use of some of the stones for the ballast of the railway.

Rassafa
Even though already known at the time of the Assyrians and cited in the Bible, Rassafa only had its glory from the Byzantine period when it became an important center of pilgrimage. Sergius, a Roman soldier converted to Christianity, and who according to the legend was decapitated for refusing to make a sacrifice in the honor of Jupiter, became a martyr and a saint. He gave his name to the town: Sergiopolis (5th century).

Raqqa
Legends would make us believe that Raqqa was discovered by Alexander the Great. In reality it was Seleucos 1st Callinicos (244 - 242 BC) who was at the origin. Called Nicephorium during the Hellenic period, it was baptized Callinicum by the Romans. The Byzantines made a defensive fortress of it in reply to the danger of a Persian attack, but apparently, it was not- enough as the soldiers of Justinius were defeated when up against the Sassanides.
The town became Muslim in 639 AD gaining much splendor: The Caliph Hisham had two palaces built and the Abbassid Caliph, Al Mansour, restored the town in 754 AD before making it his second capital. Its strategic position allowed it to protect Byzance and Baghdad. More beautiful and prosperous than ever, the town attracted Caliph Haroun Al Rachid who established his summer residence here and gave it a new name: Al Rafiqa. A program of construction was put in place in order to strengthen the town and made of it a symbol of Abbassid hegemony. The Mongol invasion of 1258 AD puts a final term to this age of glory.

The High Lights Of LEBANON

Beirut

Beirut the capital of Lebanon,

Due to its geographical position and to its venerable past , conveys a sense of life and energy. The excavations have revealed that beneath the ruined downtown area lie the remains of Canaanite, Phoenician, Persian, Roman, Byzantine, Omayyad, Abbassid, Crusader, Mamluke and Ottoman These are the history of Beirut.

Ba'lbeck

Ba'lbek, Lebanon's greatest Roman treasure, can be counted the wonders of the ancient world. Ba'lbek is located on two main historic trade routes, one between the Mediterranean coast and the Syrian interior and the other between northern Syria and northern Palestine. Baalbek is a site that attracts the admiration of visitors due to its historical importance. It was here that the triad of Jupiter, Venus and Mercury were grafted onto the indigenous deities of Hadad, Atargates and a God of fertility. Despite of war, earthquakes and theft, Ba'lbek monuments survived. 

Sidon

Sidon was a city of commerce important of the Phoenicia reappointed by the manufacture of the crimson. After the destruction of Beirut in the year 551 before Christ by an earthquake, school of right has been transferred to Sidon where the Sagette of the crusaders constructed a castle at the edge of the sea.  the city is famous by the manufacture of the soap it is the "Khan of the Soap" .

Byblos

It is one of the most old cities of the world. An important city on the Lebanese coast known by Byblos till Greek period. The city gave its name to the Bible. The Phoenicians have built temples. One finds a Roman theater and different period on the archaeological site. In this city the crusaders had built a fortified castle, a church, and battlements.

Anjar

Anjar city constructed according to the Roman framework by the Calife Ommeyyade Al Walid to the VIII century. A cardo and a décumanus divided into 4 parts. At the intersection of the two streets is found the great palace, near of which one sees the small palace: Hammams, shops (600 vicinities ) and habitations.

Tyr

TYR city is famous by its racetrack the greater in the world. It is the important city of the king Hiram that lives in the X century before Chirst. Nabuchodonozor has sieged it during 13 years and Alexander the Great acted in the same way. It is a Flourissant city. Its girl the queen Elyssa founded 'Cartage.

Top^