The Palmyra Ruins
A colonnaded street over a kilometre long, a Roman theatre and the tower tombs. What survives at Palmyra, how long a visit takes, and when to go.
- Opening hours
- Sunrise to sunset
- Entry
- Varies — confirm at the gate
- Duration
- 180 minutes
- Best time
- The first two hours of the morning
- Period
- Roman
- Address
- Palmyra, Homs
The spine of the ancient city is the colonnaded street running east to west. It is more than a kilometre long and most of the columns on either side are still up; the brackets halfway up each one once carried statues of the merchants who paid for the street.
What survives
The Temple of Bel and the triumphal arch were destroyed in 2015. The colonnaded street, the theatre, the agora and the tower tombs are largely intact. Restoration is ongoing and some areas may be closed.
Walking it
The site is large and there is no shade. Starting at the west end of the colonnaded street, walking to the theatre and on to the agora takes three hours. The tower tombs are west of the city in a separate valley — you need a vehicle.
Do not miss
On the stone blocks behind the stage building of the theatre there are inscriptions in the Palmyrene alphabet that can still be read. Most visitors walk straight into the middle of the theatre and never see them.
Tips
- No shade: a hat and at least two litres of water
- You need a vehicle for the tower tombs; they are too far to walk
- The Palmyrene inscriptions behind the theatre are what most visitors miss