Featured places
Mosques, caravanserais, souks, museums — and why they are worth the walk.
813 Places
The Azm Palace
A Damascene house built for an Ottoman governor in 1749. Bands of black basalt and white limestone, a shaded courtyard, and the folk museum inside it today.
Damascus · Ottoman
Bab Sharqi
The east gate of Old Damascus and the only one still showing its Roman plan. Straight Street begins here and the Christian quarter is just inside. Where to start.
Damascus · Roman
Margat Castle
A Hospitaller castle on a basalt spur south of Baniyas, looking out to sea. Its black stone, its grip on the coast road, what stands inside, and its fall in 1285.
Latakia · Crusader — Mamluk
Ugarit
The mound 11 kilometres north of Latakia where one of the earliest alphabets was found. The Bronze Age palace, how long a visit takes, and when to go.
Latakia · Bronze Age
Krak des Chevaliers
The best-preserved Crusader castle in the world. How to reach Qalaat al-Hosn 65 kilometres west of Homs, what to see inside, and how long the visit takes.
Homs · Crusader — Mamluk
The Umayyad Mosque
Completed in 715 on the site of a Byzantine church, and a temple of Jupiter before that. Entry is 500 SYP; go early or after mid-afternoon for a quiet courtyard.
Damascus · Umayyad
The Al-Hamidiyah Souq
French shelling in 1925 left the arched tin roof full of holes. In daylight those holes become points of light on the floor. Free, and open until 21:00.
Damascus · Ottoman
The Aleppo Citadel
On the mound at the centre of Aleppo; you still enter over the Ayyubid stone bridge. What to see, the city from the walls, entry 1500 SYP, visiting notes.
Aleppo · Ayyubid
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, when to go, and where shade is.
Palmyra · Roman
