Syria Country Profile

Palmyra Syria

Perhaps unsurprisingly for a part of the world that has witnessed the ebb and flow of the empires of the Semites, the Sumerites, the Akkadians, the Canaanites, the Phoenicians, the Arameans, the Assyrians, the Babylonians, the Pharoahs, the Persians, the Ummayyads, the Romans, the Greeks and the Ottomans; and played host to Alexander the Great, Richard the Lionheart, the Muslim Prophet Muhammad, Saladin, and Sargon of Akkad, Syria is a country with its fair share of history!

The ancient cities of Damascus and Aleppo – both UNESCO World Heritage sites – arguably top the list as the highlights of any Syria tour, but Syria has another three UNESCO World Heritage sites to boast of, including perhaps the most impressive example of Crusader castles, Crac des Chevaliers, and the breathtaking Palmyra, the desert city on the crossroads of the old caravan routes, and home to what has been described as the most important religious building of the first century AD in the Middle East, the enormous temple of Ba’al-Shamin.
That’s not forgetting the twelve other sites currently on the waiting list for inclusion as UNESCO World Heritage sites, which include Ottoman water wheels on the banks of the Orontes River; the purported birthplace of the modern alphabet; ancient Sumerian cities lying on the banks of the Euphrates River; Ummayyad desert palaces; Maaloula, the only place in the world where an ancient form of Aramaic is still spoken; the remains of the pillar which brought St Simeon the Stylite such fame; and the eery Dead Cities.
Our Syria small group tours all take in a selection of these sites, but we also offer tailor made tours of Syria.
Click here to see our Syria tours
Places of interest in Syria:
Aleppo
Apamea
Bosra
Crac des Chevaliers
Damascus
Deir Ez Zoor
Hama
Jabar Castle
Lattakia
Maaloula
Palmyra
Qasr Al Heer Ash Sharqi
Shahba
St Simeon & the Dead Cities
Ugarit