"Go back as far as you will into the vague past, there was always a Damascus...she has looked upon the dry bones of a thousand empires and will see the tombs of a thousand more before she dies."

Mark Twain, The Innocents Abroad, 1869

Damascus

Syria’s capital and UNESCO World Heritage Site. Existed since the 3rd millennium B.C. Damascus is the oldest continuously inhabited city in the world, it has so many monuments and interesting sites to see and explore.

Top sights in Damascus:

The charming Old City is surrounded by a Roman wall, in which the main covered market (Souk Al-Hamidieh) lies among cobbled streets, the souk is a pedestrian zone, packed with shops on each side overflowing with colourful merchandise. The end of the souk gives way to two gigantic Corinthian columns, they are what remains of the temple of Jupiter. Just a few minutes walk from the souk is the spectacular Omayyad Mosque which was built in 705 A.D and hosts the shrine of St John the Baptist. Close to the north gate of the Mosque is a little mausoleum which contains the tomb of Salah ad-din, who rallied Islam and defeated the Crusader invaders.

Not far from the Umayyad Mosque, on the southern side is the AzemPalace, it was designed in 1749 for Assad Pasha al-Azem, Governor of Damascus. In 1952 the National Museum of the arts and popular Traditions of Syria was established at Azem Palace, it contain thousands of items (furniture, tools, unusual items used in Syria as it was), the whole display is very educational and extremely attractive.

IN Damascus when you walk down the Street which called Straight, you might feel that you were walking alongside Saul of Tarsus (who was transformed into St Paul on seeing the light of faith) on "the road to Damascus"..

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30 km from Damascus, over a hilltop is the village of Seidnaya “Our Lady”

The village is surrounded by vineyards and  olive trees, it has a famous monastery founded in 547, dedicated to the Blessed Virgin; the monastery contains a portrait of the Virgin Mary believed to have been painted by Saint Luke.

Ma’loula

55km from Damascus is the village of Maaloula, at this village the houses are carved out of the mountain stone and the people still speaks Aramaic, the language of Jesus Christ. There are two important monasteries in Ma'loula, Mar Sarkis and Mar Takla.

Aleppo

Is the second important city in Syria and UNESCO World Heritage site (350 km north of Damascus).
Aleppo is famous for its architecture and cuisine, for its attractive churches, mosques, schools, tombs and baths.
The citadel, an immense structure in the heart of the old city.

St.Simeon's Monastery

60 km north of Aleppo is the well-preserved Byzantine monastery of St Simeon, it was one of the most famous Christian pilgrimage centre for that period.

Born in 386 A.D. in a village in the Manus Mountains of northern Syria, St. Simeon,  started his life as a shepherd, age 13 he decided to become a monk, spending his time praying in isolation. Word got around and people began to visit to seek his blessing. Simeon resented this invasion of his solitude and was driven to erect a 3m high pillar in order to get away from the ever increasing number of people and to be closer to god. He kept adding height to the pillar till it reached 20m, devoted his entire time to fasting, preaching and praying.

He was known as Simon the stylite and he was visited by pilgrims from as far as France, Spain and Britain.

After spending 37 years on his pillar, Simeon died in September 459. He inspired many imitators, and for the next century, ascetics living on pillars( stylites) were a common sight throughout the Byzantine Levant.

The site of Simeon’s pillar became a perennial attraction for pilgrims, centuries of chipping away at the colum for holly souvenirs, the pilgrims, eventually reduced the pillar to a rounded shape stone less than 2m high.

In 475 A.D, a classical Byzantine church was built in the shape of a cross around Simeon's pillar, the 5,000 square meters of floor space was nearly equal to the size of the Hagia Sophia in Constantinople. The hilltop setting for this church is dramatic and the sandy-coloured buildings are extraordinary with beautiful architectural innovations such as the carving of acanthus leaves.

Opposite the southern basilica along the sacred road ( the via sacra) is the baptistery, which was built soon after the main church.The monastery of St. Simeon was destroyed by major earthquake.

Palmyra

The ancient oasis of Palmyra is very special place, Located beside a hot-water spring, this magnificent site is most notable today for its breathtaking displays of Roman architecture in the form of its Great Colonnade, amphitheatre, Temple of Bel, Valley of Tombs.

In the past, Palmyra(city of palms), also known in Arabic as Tadmor(city of dates), has enjoyed 400 years as a  trade centre between East and West.

The Romans invaded this city in the first century BC and during the third century Queen 'Zenobia challenged the Roman emperor Aurelian.

The National Museum of Palmyra houses many of the statues , coins, jewellery and other items found in the tombs and other ruins of the city.

Homs

Homs is the 3rd most important city in Syria. It lies 160 km to the north of Damascus. Homs, which was called Mesa in ancient times, was the third station on the Silk route after Dura Europos and Palmyra.

Krak des Chevaliers (fortress of the knights) the majestic Crusader fortress Lawrence of Arabia called it simply “the finest castle in the world”. . Perched on a hilltop with spectacular views of the surrounding countryside, Its the best preserved of all crusader castles of Syria, several famous crusaders stayed here on their conquest, including King Edward I of England, who was greatly impressed by its imposing design. 

Bosra

Situated 140 Km south of Damascus, Bosra is most famous for its magnificent Roman amphitheater, which was later converted into a fortress. It seats 15,000 people and has been designed so that all the audience can hear the actors without the use of any special equipment.

Hama

Hama is well known for its enormous water wheels ‘norias’ on the Orontes, which are as old as Hama itself, these giant, creaking waterwheels up to 20m high have been used for centuries to divert water out of the Orontes River to irrigate surrounding farmland.

Apamea

55 km northwest of Hama is Apamea, an ancient city located on the right bank of the Orontes river. It overlooks the Ghab valley and is notable for its exceptionally long Roman street, lined with classical columns.

Apamea was founded in 300 BC by Seleucus Nicator, one of Alexander the Great's generals and the first king of the Seleucids in Syria, he named it after his wife Apame. The beautiful new Hellenistic city soon flourished, its population numbered half a million. Apamea was destroyed by many major earthquakes, today it stands as a very impressive Roman ruins.

Lattakia

Syria's main sea-port on the Mediterranean, 183 km southwest of Aleppo, or 340 Km from Damascus.

Lattakia was built by Saluqos Nikator in the 2nd century B.C, named it after his mother, Laudetia, it has the best beaches in Syria.

Ugarit

16km to the north of Lattakia is the site of Ugarit, the kingdom that had a golden past between the 16th and 13th centuries B.C. The kingdom that gave humanity the first alphabet in the world, this alphabet is housed at the National Museum in Damascus.

Saladin's Castle (Fortress of Sahyoun)

UNESCO World Heritage site, this castle, located on the coastal mountain range at 37 Km away from Lattakia, is often considered one of the most prestigious castles of the medieval period and the most romantic.

The Phoenicians controlled this site in the 1st Millennium BC, and were still holding it when Alexander the Great arrived in 333 BC.The Crusaders captured the castle at the beginning of the 12th century.

The 28m deep ditch, which was cut into living rock by the Byzantines is one of the most magnificent features of this castle, this ditch is about 155 meters long, 20 meters wide and has a lonely 28-meter high needle to support the drawbridge. 

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