The most beautiful religious buildings Syria

The most important of these necropolises, the Valley of Tombs, runs along the Al-Qoubour Oued west of Palmyra. It houses many tower tombs, the oldest style attested, perhaps dating back to the Hellenistic period. Among the many testimonies of this burial art lining the flanks of the small hill of Umm al-Belqis, the tomb of Jamblique is the best preserved. It dates from 83 Apr. On three floors, it allowed 200 burials. Because the tombs of Palmyra were designed to receive an extended family circle, or even strangers to the family to whom the location was rented.

By continuing to the west by the path to the banks of the oued, the most important tower tombs, that of Elahbel, are reached. Its capacity was 300 burials. The ground floor is particularly well preserved, with ceiling ceiling and pilasters with corinthians capitals, and the view of the summit is astonishing but dangerous. Each location was closed by a stone which, according to a tradition of Palmyra, bore the image of the deceased. These stones have long been removed, and there are hardly any major museums in the world that have a few copies.

Many other tombs are particularly in ruins in the surrounding areas. Some are made up of underground chambers (hypogeous), such as that of Yarhaï, which is now reconstituted in the basement of the Damascus museum.

Another necropolis is located at the exit of the city, on the right, on the road leading to Damascus, shortly after Hotel Palmyra.

It is mainly composed of hypogeous. The tomb, said of the three brothers (mid th century), is accessible by a staircase that plunges the visitor underground. It is in T. An inscription indicates that three brothers built this tomb for commercial purposes. Each wing contained small modules to accommodate the dead. In addition, it gives us an idea of the decorations painted inside the tombs. The main wing is decorated with a fresco to the glory of the three brothers.

150 m from there, the Recorded Recorded (98 apr. ) is particularly interesting by the sculpture (much later since dated 229) who represents the deceased, a notable rich of the name of Maqqaï, taking part in his funeral banquet, lying on his own sarcophagus.

On the other side of the road to Damascus, there is a third necropolis, including the Artaban recorded, well preserved as discovered during the pipeline route, in 1957. Nothing prevents the discovery of tombs on foot or by car (for the distant ones) alone. However, there are only closed doors. To see the richly decorated interior, tours are organised from the Antiques museum where tickets are purchased. Fixed-time departures since the Master of the keys (an employee of the museum) must join the convoy. Only two tombs are open to the visit.

If you visit the theatre, you should not miss entering the Great Mosque in the same park. It contains the tomb of the Afghan Sultan Ibrahim, who died in 778, who abandoned his throne to end his days in faith and charity in Djéblé. The large prayer room, with the low vaults under many domes, is particularly austere.

In the northeast of the tell, dominating the city, the acropolis presented to its visitors two main temples, one dedicated to Baal, the other to Dagon. These massive buildings were visible from the port. Today, from these anonymous ruins, you can see the nearby sea and the view to the Hotel Méridien. Ships'anchors were raised to the sanctuary of Baal, the god of the storm. Offerings were devoted to him, sometimes so that his anger did not trigger storms that were harmful to navigation, sometimes to plead the rain necessary for cultures.

As indicated in the Dagon temple stelas, shared between the Louvre and the Aleppo Museum, animals were sacrificed to this god in honour of the dead. In the house, known as the Magician-Magician, south of the acropolis, many livers of clay animals were found. Prêtres priests, called aruspices, examined the entrailles of the victims and animals to draw predictions.

Two mosques deserve a visit: the Great Mosque () al-Dawla Street) from the beginning of the th century, and not far away the Al-Jadid Mosque (Maleki Street) of the th century, raised by Soulayman Pasha, the uncle of the Bâtisseur Palace of Damascus.

The large Greek Orthodox community in the city surrounds its churches with special care. The one dedicated to the Virgin Mary (Filasteen Street) has a beautiful marble decorated iconostasis (th century). St. Nicholas Church, Mayssaloun Street, houses a collection of th and th century Syrian icons as well as an ebony throne (th century). See also the Latin Church, the oldest in the city, only look, the interior has been completely renovated (open from to every day, at the corner of Yarmouk and Baghdad streets.)

Al-Maabad ("the temple" in Arabic) is dedicated to the Phoenician god Melqart associated with the Egyptian Echmoun and the Hercules of Greeks. A sanctuary is high in the centre of a basin. The square pillars are égyptisants, while merlons (parts full of a deux parapet between two niches) of baja (inner and central part of a temple) are mesopotamian influences. The telling of the primitive city is located right next to the temple. On the other side of the Wadi, the traces of a stadium are distinguished. The stands are clearly visible, and the track is tufts of herbs and pebbles. Back to the temple, return to the paved road, through the dessinés paths. We see the towers through barbed wire.

Another visit can come to complement that of krak. The convent dedicated to Saint George was very frequented during the feast of the Holy day on 6 June, and on 14 September, on the occasion of the Feast of the Cross. Devoted to the Greek Orthodox cult, this massive building of 52 rooms was held in the time of Emperor Justinian, in the life of the century in B.C., and is inhabited today by a small dozen monks. One of them will take you to the chapels. Donation possible. Two superimposed chapels deserve a visit. The oldest, on the ground floor, dates back to the th century and presents a beautiful ebony wooden iconostasis depicting the life of the saint. Beautiful Damascus tiles are hidden under red curtains. The second chapel, built in 1857, just above the first, also includes beautiful icons accompanied by a collection of objects of worship.

Access. The convent is located 11 km from the Krak des Chevaliers, near the village of Mamarita. On the road, ask Al-Houmayra or Deir Mar Georgis, Arab appellations of the convent. You can also charter a taxi from the krak or your hotel, about 200 LS the return (one quarter of an hour).

After several years of restoration work, a community of sisters, sisters of the unity of Antioch, lived there since January 2000. Ask to meet with French sister who will be pleased to visit this moving, historic place.

The visit begins first with the oldest piece. According to the dating of the wood on the door (juniper), this piece dates back over 2 000 years. In fact, this Christian sanctuary was first a pagan temple dedicated to the moon.

Then we go through a small little door to enter the church that would be one of the oldest in Syria. Its semicircular apse was on two floors. Inside, gradually after restoration, the frescoes are returned. Left was a mill. One enters the unique nave with two stone arches. The soil dating from the Middle ages has been restored.

On the walls, frescoes in pieces depicting the life of Christ are visible. The bottom of the tower is Roman times. The rest has been completely renovated. She was certainly a watchtower. Finally, the crypt, which was a place of refuge during the massacres of the th century under Baïbar and the th century under the Ottomans. According to the legend, two survivors of the massacre perpetuated in the th century escaped through a tunnel leading to the church of Saint-Nicolas today the Great mosque.

To conclude the tour of Qara, mark a stop at the Grande Mosque (Jaamea al-Kabir). Go down the main street 300 m from the church and turn right. This is actually an ancient cathedral converted into a mosque.

The façade also shows the Byzantine origins of the building.

Déchausser before entering, women must take a veil. Good example of small small town mosque, filled with carpets. The ancient capitals decorate the two mihrab.

From the main road, take a small lane on the right just before a large triangular square. The entrance of the church is a little further on the right. Ask the key to the merchants around the square.

The two Roman officers from Syria were a rich source of inspiration for Syrian religious artists. People in the late th century in Résafé (see «Résafé»), Saint Serge gave his name to the Catholic convent of Maaloula. Here, it is the frescoes that we have to admire. They are still practically intact around the year 1000, which is already fascinating. They represent Saint Serge on a horse, Saint John-Baptiste and the Child Nursing.

The recent Shia shrine, situated not far from the Umayyad mosque, is not missing. Its gloss inside, with a prayer room with hundreds of mirrors, dive in a green light light, slice with the sobriety of other places of worship in the city. Enter the place and observe the devotion of highly expressive Shia women in the expression of their faith. Women must wear a Muslim dress.

The construction of the mausoleum spanned 50 years (from 1172 to 1218). The facade is treated more soberly than that of the adjacent mausoleum, with an arc in full hanger. A small vestibule leads to a courtyard with a basin. On the right, the iwan and, on the left, the old prayer room, which opens onto the courtyard by five bays. All rooms around the courtyard, which were the rooms of the students and masters, are arranged in the library. Jadis once contained the grave of the brother of Saladin, Sultan Al-Adil Ed ed-Din, the man who raised the Damascus citadel, dead in 1218. It houses the Arab Manuscripts section of the National Library.

From the threshold to the éblouissante style of calligraphie style and to the mouqarnas, the funeral room is found on the right. One of the guards will gladly open it with a bakchich. While the tones and themes are identical to the mosaic décor of the Umayyad mosque, the execution is more coarse. Among other remarkable elements of the decor are the mihrab à, steeped in marble, ivory and mother's length, and decorated with floral motifs, calligraphy and geometric motifs, as well as baseboards with marble scales. Completed in 1278, the mausoleum of the Sultan mameluke Az-Zahir Baïbars occupies the location of a house formerly inhabited by Ayyoub, the father of Saladin. Madrasas acts as a library, and there are many dusty books among which the works on Islam contradict Lenin's works.

Among the many holy places and shrines in Damascus, there are three of them attracting the Shia pilgrims in Iran. They are the tomb of Hussein in the Great Mosque, the nearby Rouqqaya mosque, and finally the Saida Zeinab mausoleum. Dedicated to a granddaughter of Mohammed, this mausoleum takes you to Isfahan. The profusion of money and mirrors in the prayer rooms, the rich decor of tiles, the immense golden dome contrast with the modest suburb where it is located. To get there, take a collective taxi for Saida Zeinab (15 km from the city centre, on the road to Souweida south-east of Damascus).

This small palace, dating back to the late th century, is home to an antique shop. Ask to climb on the roof, a privilege that the store leader willingly grants… and in French. There is a splendid view of old Damascus, with the Hamidiyé Souk as the horizon. Almost opposite, on the other side of the street Noureddin ash-Shahid, is madrasas An-Nouri. It houses the grave of the Great Noureddin, but the original building has almost disappeared. If the door is closed, you can see the sepulchre through the grid from the alley.

By continuing on rue Al-Moawiya (that of madrasas An-Nouri, opposite the Osmane street), at 200 m, slightly on the right, you reach Bimaristan year-Nouri.

On the road leading from the monumental arc to the city stands the cella of an important sanctuary dedicated to Baalshamin. The cult of this god cananéen, «master of the heavens», responsible for rain and fertility, grew significantly from the Seleucids. The sanctuary, built gradually, consists of three peristyle courses extending to Zénobia Cham Palace. The facade of the temple is decorated with four columns. The cella has a specially treated semi circular thalamos. Finally, one of the few statues of origin still in its place lies in the north in relation to cella.

The dimensions of the sanctuary, a large square enclosure of 175 m aside, and the state of conservation of the cella placed in its centre make this monument one of the most fabulous of the Roman Middle East after Baalbek.

Such a marvel was obviously not born in one day. It is on the location of a Hellenistic temple than in 32. The cella was dedicated to three deities: Bêl, Yarhibôl and Aglibôl, all three of the palmyrénien pantheon. This construction undoubtedly marks the affirmation of Roman sovereignty in Palmyra. It will then be necessary to wait until the beginning of the th century for the péribole to be enlarged and located in two rows of columns. The entrance gate (the one that locks up the existing counters) was completed only at the end of the th century. The latter wall included a monumental entrance (with stairs) which suffered greatly from the transformation of the sanctuary in place in the th century by the Mameluk. The spectacle of its re-replacement elements inserted into disorder proves the state of decay of the city of the day.

In the vast courtyard of the sanctuary, the eye is immediately drawn from the slightly regulator cella to the northeast. It is still partly surrounded by columns of its peristyle, especially on the east side. The peristyle was covered with slabs worn by also beams of stone. The portal, which has been restored, is of impressive size. The Syrian claw on this building is clearly reflected in the richness of the decoration (palmettes, fruit garlands, foliage…). In the axis of this portal opens the cella, large room 10 m on 30 m which constituted the heart of the temple. Facing, two thalamos, the most sacred part of the temple, which had the statues of the gods.

The left thalamos had a staircase and an annexe room. The richly decorated ceiling bears in its centre the effigy of Jupiter (the star associated with Bêl), surrounded by a first circle representing the six planets and a second bearing the twelve signs of the Zodiac. The southern thalamos is also surmounted by a monolithic bloc weighing several tens of tons, with pure geometric and floral decoration.

The fly of stairs that drove there is well preserved. Two other stairs inside the sacred chamber leading to the roof of the building. The room has a mihrab which attests the transformation of cella into mosque. By leaving the cella, you will note in the courtyard of the sanctuary, left, the traces of a bassin basin and, on the right, those of an altar. Behind the altar was identified the foundations of a banquet room near a processionnaire lane lined with stands that used to drive animals to sacrifice and climb on a gentle slope from the west wall wall.

The building dates back to the end of the Fifth Century and was probably conceived as a step on the pilgrimage route of Saint-Siméon; he benefited from the best architectural knowledge of the time. The three wings of the nave are delimited by two rows of columns that have their capitals and always support the windows on the floor. As a whole, it shows a change in style, less cumbersome than that of the previous era. The building gains light and height. Like the pilgrims, make a break on the road to Saint-Siméon. At the end of the day, the rougissante light gives it even more stamp.

Built on the location of the 1124 st century Cathedral of St. Helena, seized by the Muslim ruler of Aleppo in, in retaliation for atrocities committed by the «Franj» during the crusades. Just opposite the entrance, in the prayer room, note the capitals of Byzantine origin and the splendid wooden mihrab. Women must provide for a shawl, there are no available at the entrance.

In a tiny street devoted to the trade in wool (in a pelota), you will discover on your right the Syrian, Catholic, Greek Orthodox and Armenian churches, before arriving at the church of the forty-Martyrs, the oldest (th century) church. Enter the cloister and walk on the tombs of the Armenian martyrs massacred by the Turks in 1915, just below the impressive bell tower. The charm of the Syrian Catholic Church stems from its strange blend of pious images and oriental architecture, including the alternance of coloured stones in the choir.

It was built in 1233 on order of the widow of the son of Saladin, Sultan Az-Zahir al-Ghazi, and daughter of the brother of Saladin al-Adil. Its mosque is organized around a small square courtyard bordered by porticos whose arches are based on wooden pieces on the columns of columns. An original device designed to defy earthquakes. The mihrab of the prayer room, located opposite the vast iwan of the courtyard, decorated with a splendid marble marquetry, is described by the Aleppins as the most «chauvinists of Syria's finest mihrab. If possible, it is better to get there at 12 p. m. The faithful carry out prayer inside, while a handful of merchants are active outside, with their carriages filled with vegetables or fruit. Placed at the exit of the mosque, they harvest the faithful barely the prayer completed. A quarter of an hour later, they disappear as fast as they ran. At the end of prayer, non-Muslims can enter and admire the interior of the building as well as the small dozen tombs of holy saints there.