It is a county cram packed with history and archecture. I am looking forward to spending hours just wandering around the massive crusader castles and ancient ruins to which there are plenty. For a taster i have put together a brief summary of what I hope to see.
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.
Unfortunately, ancient earthquakes destroyed many buildings and citadels in Homs. There remains only one citadel in the south of the city with its Damascus and Palmyra gates.
Palmyra (Tadmor in Arabic) is in the heart of Syrian Desert, and is often described as the bride of the desert. Its magnificent remains tell of a heroic history during the reign of Queen Zenobia.
The Oasis, as it is sometimes called, is located near a hot-water spring called Afqa, which make it an ideal halt for caravans moving between Iraq and Al-Sham (present day Syria, Lebanon, Holy Land and Jordan), trading in silk from China to the Mediterranean. This strategic location made Palmyra prosper in a well-established kingdom from the 2nd century BC.
After Romans conquered Syria, Palmyra flourished and became known as city of palm-trees. When Emperor Adrian visited Palmyra, he declared it a free city; in return, people of Palmyra gratefully called their city Adrianapalmyra.
Homs is the 3rd most important city in Syria. It lies 160 km to the north of Damascus.
Hama has been settled since the early Iron Age. In book of Joshua, Hama is mentioned at the time when the land was divided up between the 12 tribes. It is also mentioned in Kings II as the source for the settlers the Assyrians moved into Samaria, after depopulating the cities of Holy land.
Crac des Chevaliers was built on the site of a former castle erected by the Emirs of Homs to accommodate Kurdish garrisons; Crac is a modification of the Arab word Qal'a, which means citadel. The citadel covers an area of 3000 square meters and has 13 huge towers, in addition to many stores, tanks, corridors, bridges and stables. It can accommodate 5000 soldiers with their horses, their equipment and provisions for five years.
The most famous medieval citadel in the world, Crac des Chevaliers (Qal'at Al-Hosn in Arabic) is 65 km west of Homs and 75 km south-east of Tartus.
It was built in order to control the so-called "Homs Gap", the gateway to Syria. It was through this passage that Syria communicated with the Mediterranean.
Hama, situated between Homs and Aleppo on banks of the Orontes river, is an important agricultural and industrial center. Except for Damascus, Hama is considered the most picturesque city in Syria and one may wish to take time to relax in its attractive gardens along river banks.
St. Simeon is a citadel 60 km north west of Aleppo, named after the hermit Saint Simeon (Sam'an); a shepherd from northern Syria, who became a monk after a revelation in a dream.
Following his death in 459 AD, Emperor Zenon ordered that a cathedral be built where the saint used to pray.
The layout was original, centering on the famous column from which St. Simeon used to preach. Four basilicas, arranged in the shape of a cross, opened into an octagon covered by a dome, in the center of which stood the holy column. A simplicity and harmony combine to make ruins of the Basilica of St. Simon a masterpiece of pre-Islamic art in Syria.
St. Simeon of Stylites, whilst raising himself up on his pillar of self-persecution could never have guessed the elevation to be experienced by church construction 500 to 600 years later.
Aleppo is the second capital of Syria 350 km north of Damascus, and one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in history. Abraham (pbuh) is said to have camped on the acropolis which, long before his time, served as the foundation of a fortress where the Aleppo citadel is standing now. He milked his grey cow there, hence Aleppo's name "Halab Al-Shahba".
Ever since the 3rd millennium BC, Aleppo has been a flourishing city, with a unique strategic position. This position gave the city a distinctive role from the days of the Akkadian and Amorite kingdoms until modern times.
To the west of the city, stands the Mudiq citadel, which once formed a defense line along the Orontes.
Fierce battles with Crusaders attempting to conquer it took place in the 12th century, and Nour Eddin finally surrendered it in 1149.
In the Ottoman age, Aleppo remained an important center of trade with Turkey, France, England and Holland. This caused various types of European architecture to be adopted in Aleppo which can be seen in many buildings today.
Nowadays, Aleppo is famous for its ancient citadel with medieval fortress, the great Umayyad mosque, and the extraordinary souqs (bazaars) with every conceivable kind of article for sale. It was and still the far distant trade center when Shakespeare mentioned it in Macbeth and Othello.
The old city was surrounded by a wall incorporating defense towers and fortified gates built during the Islamic period. A large part of the wall still standing.
The Archaeological Museum of Aleppo contains exhibits from the stone age to modern times.
Damascus, the capital of Syria, is the oldest continuously inhabited city in the world. It has occupied a position of importance in the fields of science, culture, politics, art commerce, and industry from the earliest times. It has been called Al-Fayha'a (the fragrant city), Al-Sham, Jollaq, and Pearl of Orient as Emperor Julian named it.
Damascus became capital of the first Arab state at time of the Umayyads in 661 AD. This marked the beginning of its golden epoch, and for a whole century it was the center of the youthful Islamic Empire. This reached its peak of expansion during this period, and came to stretch from shores of Atlantic and Pyrennese in west, to river Indus and China in east. Umayyads took a genuine interest in building up Damascus, organizing its souqs (bazaars) and districts, improving its water supply, erecting palaces, and hospitals.
Nowadays, Damascus is a living museum spanning thousands of years. A city measuring time not by hours, days, months, and years but by empires it has seen rise and crumble to ruin.
Apamea is located on the right bank of the Orontes river about 55 km to the north west of Hama. It overlooks the Ghab valley and was built by Seleucus Nicator, the first king of the Seleucids in Syria in 300 BC. He named it after his parisian wife, Afamea.
The city flourished to an extent that its population numbered half a million. As an Eastern crossroads, it received many distinguished visitors: Cleopetra, Septimus Severus and the Emperor Caracalla. In the Christian era, Apamea became a center of philosophy and thought, especially of Monophostism.
Most of the uncovered ruins in it date back to the Roman and Byzantine ages. It is distinguished for its high walls and the main thoroughfare surrounded by columns with twisted fluting. The street is 1850 meters long and 87 meters wide. The ruins of the Roman theater which have been frequently disturbed, are now a great mass of stone.
Its colonnade (The Cardo Maximus) is 145 meters long. Erected in the 2nd century, it was destroyed in the 12th century by two violent earthquakes; some columns are still standing nevertheless.
And after all that site seeing im assured that there is nothing better to do than to find a shady spot so one can sit and sip at an ice cold beer or loli-pop but it will have to be consumed quick as the heat will be above 100 degreese farenheight - however the nights spent camping in the dunes will be cold.....
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