Memories from a wonderful trip to Syria
These memories are dedicated to the wonderful Syrian people going through difficult times, hoping that they will soon come back to smile. During our trip, we visited and discovered the beauty of the Syrian Unesco Heritage monuments that, unfortunately, are in danger because of the civil war. Damascus and the surrounding area have left their traces of ancient Romans, Byzantines, Ommayads, Christian Crusades, and Sunni Arab civilisation’s highest expressions. Ancient enemies who are now united by the danger of disappearing into the sand their most precious legacies. The most important and beautiful sites of the Middle East and Unesco World heritage site you could see crossing the country were: the citadel of Aleppo, the city of Palmira, the Castle of Saladino, the city of Bosra and the Krak des Chevaliers. Walking through these ancient cities and fortresses, crossing walls, bridges, stables, hammams, towers, vaults, arches, colonnades, and theatres was fascinating and unique. Since we no longer have the opportunity to visit these magnificent monuments, we would like to share our fantastic experience through the pictures that, more than anything else, could describe the charm of this country.
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Syrian Unesco Heritage monuments
The Citadel of Aleppo or Al Qal’a, located in the centre of the old town on a hillside, is a fortified medieval palace considered to be one of the oldest and largest castles in the world (Unesco heritage since 1986).
The ancient city of Palmyra is located in an oasis and without doubt, Syria’s most famous tourist attraction. Among other monuments, you viewed the tetra pylon, the Roman theatre, the arch of Settimio Severo, the Nabu Temple, the Temple of Bel, the supreme Palmyrene god and the necropolis. It was for a long time a vital centre of the caravan, so to be called the Desert Bride, for travellers and merchants crossing the Syrian desert to connect the West (Rome and the main cities of the empire) with the East ( Mesopotamia, Persia, to India and China), which had a remarkable development between the 1st and 3rd century AD.
The Palmira Castle, also known as Fakhr-al-Din al-Maani, is a structure located about a couple of kilometres from the city’s famous ruins and situated on a rock overlooking the valley (Unesco heritage since 1980).
The Saladin Castle or Qal’at ṢAlāḥ al-Dīn, a medieval castle dated back around the 10th century. It is located on a high mountainous terrain on a ridge between two deep ravines and surrounded by forest. One of the fortress’s most magnificent features is the 28 m deep ditch, which was cut into living rock probably by the Byzantines (Unesco heritage since 2006).
The Krak des Chevaliers, also known as Qal’at al-Hisn, located on the hillside of the ancient city of Homs, was the most important and well-known fortified military building of the Order of the Hospital and indeed can be considered the medieval castle par excellence of the Knight Crusaders (Unesco heritage since 2006).
Bosra was the Roman capital for the Arab region. Here you could see the remains of temples, palaces, high columns and mosques made of dark basaltic stones. Highlight in Bosra was the magnificent amphitheatre dating back to the second century (Unesco heritage since 1980).
Have you visited Syria? Did you like it? Leave us a comment below!
