Temple of Dionysus-Dushara in Suwayda

A large peripteral temple, one surrounded on all four sides by a row of columns, from the Nabataean period in the old town of Suwayda. It is dated between the late 1st century BC and the 1st century AD and counts as a key example of pre-Roman architecture in the Hauran, the basalt region south of Damascus. It brought two of the city’s gods under one roof: Dushara, chief god of the Nabataeans, and Dionysus, the Greek god of wine. No dated field report shows its present state; this page draws mostly on research from around 1900.

Whose temple?

The city’s Nabataean name was Suada, and in AD 149 it became Dionysias. Dionysus appears here as the god worshipped together with Dushara in the same temple. In his report published in 1903, the American architectural historian Howard Crosby Butler described the building as one where the Nabataeans followed a Greek temple plan and added Eastern motifs to the decoration. Butler placed it in the second phase of Hauran architecture, contemporary with the first phase of the Temple of Baalshamin at Si’. The earliest dated building of this architecture was the Tomb of Hamrath, built in the same city before 50 BC.

What Butler saw

When Melchior de Vogüé drew the temple in the 1860s, 13 columns of the peristyle were still standing; by Butler’s visit in 1900 there were 7. De Vogüé’s plan showed 7 columns along the sides. Using measurements and the pilasters on the wall, Butler showed there were 8 on the sides and 7 at the back. The cella, the inner chamber, was filled in by more than two metres. A rough modern structure had been built on top of it, with two wide arched openings, internal partitions and windows. The bottom five courses of the original cut-stone wall were intact on three sides. Butler photographed the door jambs, the niches and the inner face of the north portico.

How much stands today?

No dated source says so for certain. Current encyclopaedia entries state that 8 decorated columns are standing, but give no date or field observation. The temple is not marked on map services and has no object in OpenStreetMap, which is why this page has no map. Because it cannot be shown that the building stands and is open to visitors today, no opening hours or list of things to see are given here.

Current situation and access

Suwayda has been caught up in armed conflict since July 2025. Snack Syrian reported an armed incident near the governorate building in the city centre on 29 August 2026, and a barricade put up. On 23 August 2026 the newspaper Al-Watan reported that the Damascus–Suwayda road had been cut at the Umm al-Zaytoun checkpoint. On 2 and 10 September 2026 Snack Syrian wrote that entry to and exit from the governorate were effectively restricted. This page describes what the temple is; it does not say the site can be visited today. Anyone thinking of going should first check the current situation with official sources.