Syria

The Old City of Damascus, inscribed by UNESCO in 1979, is one of the longest continuously inhabited urban centres in the world — archaeological evidence of urban occupation goes back at least 9,000 years. The Umayyad Mosque (705-715 CE), built on the site of the basilica of Saint John the Baptist whose head is venerated inside, is one of the masterpieces of early Islamic architecture. Around it: the Souq al-Hamidiya covered market, Saladin's tomb (1193), the Citadel of Damascus, the Azem Palace (Ottoman, now the Damascus Museum of Arts and Folk Traditions), the historic Khans, the Christian quarter of Bab Touma and the long Roman 'Street called Straight' of the Acts of the Apostles. The Old City layered Islamic, Christian and Jewish heritage is unique in the Mediterranean world.

Aleppo (UNESCO 1986), in the north of Syria, is one of the great cities of the medieval Islamic world. The Citadel of Aleppo is one of the largest and oldest castles in the world, with foundations that may go back to the 3rd millennium BCE; the Great Mosque (1090 CE), the historic Souks (in their pre-conflict form, one of the largest covered markets in the world, with the Souq al-Madina, the Souq al-Saqatiyya, the Souq al-Attareen for spices), the Khan al-Wazir, the Madrasa Halawiya and the Hammams complete the historic core. Aleppine cuisine — kebab Halabi, kibbeh Halabi, the muhammara red pepper and walnut dip, the makdous stuffed aubergine — is the most distinctive of the Levantine kitchens.

Palmyra (UNESCO 1980), in the central Syrian desert at the oasis of Tadmor, was the great caravan city of the Roman world and the home of Queen Zenobia in the 3rd century CE. The Tetrapylon, the Theatre, the Temple of Bel, the long colonnaded street, the Agora and the Funerary Towers in the Valley of the Tombs form one of the most photographed Roman ensembles in the world. Despite damage suffered in recent years, much of the site remains and ongoing international restoration work continues. Palmyra is normally combined with Damascus in a Syrian itinerary, accessed by road across the desert.

Two further UNESCO sites complete the southern circuit. The Crac des Chevaliers (UNESCO 2006), 60 km west of Homs, is the most complete Crusader castle in the world — the Knights Hospitaller's headquarters in the Levant, with its concentric defences, the Hall of the Knights and the chapel; T. E. Lawrence, who visited as a young man in 1909, called it 'the most wholly admirable castle in the world'. The related Qal'at Salah El-Din (Saladin's Castle) sits in the mountains east of Latakia. Bosra (UNESCO 1980), in the southern Hauran, preserves a remarkable black-basalt Roman theatre that survived because it was incorporated into a 13th-century Ayyubid citadel; the city was also a Nabataean trading post and a Roman provincial capital.

The Ancient Villages of Northern Syria (UNESCO 2011) — known as the 'Dead Cities' — preserve a network of around 700 Byzantine villages of the 4th to 7th centuries spread between Aleppo and Idlib, with churches, houses, olive presses and bath complexes. The dramatic basilica of Saint Simeon Stylites, surrounding the column of the saint who lived 37 years on top of a pillar, was once the most important early-Christian pilgrimage site in the Eastern Mediterranean. The Aramaic-speaking Christian villages of Maaloula, Jubb'adin and Bakh'a, where Aramaic is still spoken in everyday life, and the Mar Musa monastery in the desert north of Damascus complete the Christian heritage of Syria.

Syrian cuisine is one of the great kitchens of the Eastern Mediterranean: the mezze culture (hummus, baba ghanoush, fattoush, tabbouleh, muhammara, makdous, warak inab), the kibbeh family (kibbeh nayyeh raw, kibbeh maklieh fried, kibbeh Halabi Aleppine), kebab Halabi, the Damascene cuisine of the courtyards (yaprak, mahshi, kabsa Shami), the date and walnut pastries (ma'amoul, qatayef during Ramadan, halaweh), and the strong Syrian coffee with cardamom culture. The Christian quarter of Bab Touma in Damascus has a long tradition of arak distillation and date wine. The hospitality of Syrian households (the cultural value of the unannounced guest, the long mezze meal, the tea and coffee of welcome) remains the strongest first impression for almost every international visitor.