Palmyra Ancient Desert City
Visit Palmyra, the magnificent ancient desert city that rose to become one of the most important trading centers of the ancient world under Queen Zenobia, whose extraordinary ruins are being assessed for restoration after severe ISIS damage.
- 1
Temple of Bel
See the Temple of Bel, the most complete ancient temple in the Middle East before its partial destruction by ISIS in 2015, the 1st century CE sanctuary combining Roman architecture with Semitic religious traditions in the greatest monument of ancient Palmyra.
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Colonnaded Street
Walk the Palmyra colonnaded street where the Great Colonnade stretched for more than a kilometer through the ancient city, the surviving columns still creating a magnificent processional way through the desert city.
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Theatre
See the restored Roman theatre of Palmyra where performances are being revived as part of the cultural recovery effort, the ancient performance space that ISIS used for executions now being reclaimed as a place of Syrian cultural life.
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Tower Tombs
Visit the Valley of the Tombs where the distinctive Palmyrene tower tombs rise from the desert, the multi-story family mausoleums of wealthy Palmyrene merchants decorated with portrait sculptures in the distinctive Palmyrene art style.
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Palmyra Museum
Visit the Palmyra museum where the extraordinary portrait sculptures, funerary reliefs, and objects of daily life from the ancient city demonstrate the sophisticated cosmopolitan culture of this desert trading metropolis.
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Zenobia Legacy
Learn about Queen Zenobia, the 3rd century ruler who made Palmyra the center of a breakaway empire challenging Rome, the remarkable Syrian queen whose ambition and learning made her one of antiquity great female rulers before her defeat by Aurelian.