Qasr Ibn Wardan

Head northeast out of Hama into the steppe and it appears suddenly in the middle of the flat. The complex was raised in the sixth century to hold the eastern frontier of Byzantium: a palace, a church and a barracks. The material does not match the rest of the region — the brick tradition of Constantinople was carried out here.

Getting there

About sixty kilometres northeast of Hama, an hour by car with the last stretch on steppe road. There is no public transport; a car with a driver is needed.

How long it takes

An hour. The three buildings stand together and you walk between them.

What is there

Walls laid in courses of yellow brick and black basalt. Banded walls are common in Syria, but these are unlike the stone-banded examples: brick is not a local material here at all. The drum of the church dome and its window row are standing; in the palace, vaulted spaces and the lines of stairs can still be read.

What most people miss

Step inside the church and look up. The dome has gone but the course where the drum begins is still there, and from that line you can read where the dome sat.