Still partially enclosed by its ramparts, the old city of Damascus comprises different quarters and many remarkable buildings. The souks district, at the centre of which stands the Great Umayyad Mosque , teems with life. Nearby, the mainly residenti..

The scale of this mosque, especially that of its prayer hall, and the richness of its decoration is thanks to Caliph Al-Walid I, who had it built in the early 8C in order to endow Damascus (at the time the Umayyad capital) with a place of worship ref..

This remarkable 18C palace comprises two distinct parts. On one side is the private area ( haremlik ), a courtyard embellished by a fountain around which are arranged the family’s quarters; the other side is the public area ( salemlik ), complete wit..

The museum’s rich archaeological collections bear magnificent witness to the country’s history and culture from Antiquity to the 20C. It has three main sections: pre-Classical or oriental, Classical (Greco-Roman and Byzantine) and Islamic . Each..

Like a volcanic island emerging from the centre of the city, Aleppo’s citadel and its ramparts stand atop the ancient tell. The slopes of the hill have a glacis and ditch (today dry), reinforcing the site’s natural defences. Access to the fortress is..

Aleppo’s souks are renowned as some of the most bustling in the Near East. Their 12km of passages are lined by thousands of shops, grouped together according to their trades and offering a huge variety of hand-crafted and mass-produced goods. Among t..

A visit here is in effect a pleasant stroll through Syrian history, from the Palaeolithic to the Islamic period. Allow time for numerous pauses before poignant vestiges of ancient civilisations from Mari , Ugarit , Ebla and Tell Halaf . This las..

Palmyra exudes an aura of legend. The name evokes caravans laden with spices and silk, its ambitious queen Zenobia, and 18C explorers who set out to discover the site. Seventeen centuries after its sack by Aurelian’s Roman legions, the city once agai..

The castle seems straight out of a history book on the Crusades . Perched on a mountaintop, it is the finest example of a Crusader fortress, built to protect the Latin states of the Near East. Approaching from Homs or Hama, its silhouette may be see..

This quarter of the old city is named after its Muslim population, as was the case with the Christian Quarter (Christians were permitted to settle alongside the Arab residents in what is today the old city). Traversed by narrow streets, the quarter c..

This souk is a dream for lovers of spices and confectionery. On both sides of the covered alley, large sacks that never seem to empty brim with condiments that would satisfy the most demanding palace kitchen. The aromas of ground thyme ( zattar ) and..

This majestic caravanserai was built in the 18C. At its centre is a huge courtyard, covered by nine domes (several metres in height) resting on massive pillars. Apart from the central dome which is open to the sky, the rest have little windows permit..

The Takiya Soulaymania stands in a fine garden. Built in 1560, six years before the neighbouring madrasa , it marked the emergence of the Ottoman style in Damascus. It was constructed in honour of Suleiman the Magnificent by the brilliant architec..

Thetis , the Marriage of Ariadne and Dionysos , Orpheus and the Animals and the Passion of Aphrodite and Ares : four magnificent mosaics constitute this museum, on the site of a Roman villa. Of great beauty and in a good state of preservation, t..

What better way to appreciate the genius of Roman architecture than by attending a show during the Bosra Festival, held in its Roman theatre each September. It has amazing acoustics, a three-storey proscenium and 35 rows of seating, from the top of w..

A huge 27m-high keep on a hilltop is all that remains of a 12C-13C Crusader fortress. Built to protect the Latin states of the Near East, the Templars’ Chastel blanc was, like Krak des Chevaliers, finally captured by Baibars in the late 13C. On the..

Built by the Mazoir Crusader dynasty, the castle was in the late 12C sold to the Hospitallers , an order of monastic knights who reinforced it, creating a formidable bastion that withstood the onslaught of Saladin , the Crusaders’ arch-enemy. It fi..

Unlike Krak and Margat, this castle was never in the hands of the military and religious orders defending the Holy Land. The Byzantines built it after their re-conquest of Syria in the 10C and it then passed to the mysterious “master of Sahyoun” by t..

Built in the mid-18C for Assad al-Azem Pasha, who also built a palace in Damascus, this building is today a museum. The layout conforms to the traditional Syrian arrangement, separating private and public spaces. The quality and richness of the decor..

The site owes much to its setting, even more so than at Palmyra. In an open location facing Jebel Ansariyeh’s steep flanks stands a row of columns marking the main thoroughfare of ancient Apamea. The extent of the town is evident. Visitors can examin..