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QAL`AAT AL HOSN ( CRAC DES
CHEVALIERS)
THE MOST
FAMOUS MEDIEVAL CITADEL IN THE WORLD , QAL`AAT AL HOSN IS 65KM. TO THE WEST OF
HOMS , 75KM. TO THE SOUTH EAST OF TARTUS AND 650M ABOVE SEA LEVEL.
QAL`AAT AL
HOSN IS CONSIDERED TO BE UNIQUE FOR ITS ARCHITECTURE AND ITS STRATEGIC POSITION
WHICH OVERLOOKS THE PASSAGE LINKING THE SYRIAN VALLEYS WITH THE SEA. THE
CRUSADERS THERE FOR REBUILT IT IN 1142 A.D. AND THEY TRIED TO KEEP CONTROL OVER
IT UNTIL THE ARABS UNDER THE LEADERSHIP OF SULTAN BEYBARS CAPTURED IN IT 1271.
THE CITADEL,
KNOWN IN THE EUROPEAN LITERATURES BY THE NAME `` CARC DES CHEVALIERS `` STILL
RETAINS THE MAGNIFICENCE OF ITS ARCHITECTURE , ITS GREATNESS AND MOST OF ITS
ORIGINAL PARTS . ITS VASTNESS REFLECTS ITS STRATEGIC IMPORTANCE FOR IT CAN
ACCOMMODATE 2 THOUSAND SOLDIERS , THEIR HORSES AND ENOUGH PROVISIONS TO LAST
THEM FIVE YEARS OF SIEGE .
TADMOR ( PALMYRA )
TADMOR
(PALMYRA) IS SITUATED IN THE HEART OF THE SYRIAN DESERT NEAR A HOT WATER SPRING
CALLED ``AFQA`` . IT WAS MENTIONED IN THE TABLETS OF MARI AND IN THE AS SYRIAN
TABLETS IN THE 18TH CENTURIES B.C. THE CITY WAS INHABITED BY THE
ARAMEANS, THE AMORITES, AND THE NABATEANS AND BECAME OF ITS STRATEGIC POSITION ,
IT FORMED AN IMPORTANT ECONOMIC CENTRE AND WAS TURNED INTO AN ARAB KINGDOM
STARTING FROM THE 2ND CENTURY. B.C.
TADMOR
(PALMYRA) COULD EASILY COEXIST WITH ITS TWO GREAT NEIGHBOURS, THE PERSIAN AND
THE ROMAN EMPIRES . IT GAINED CONTROL OVER LANDS VERY FAR FROM ITS CENTRE AND
FLOURISHED AS A LUXURIOUS CITY WITH ITS RULER AUZAINA ACQUIRING A GREAT STATUS ,
BUT HE WAS ASSASSINATED IN MYSTERIOUS CIRCUM STANCES, AND HIS WIFE ZENOBIA TOOK
POWER . ZENOBIA WAS VERY AMBITIOUS AND SHE DREAMT OF CONQUERING .
ALL THE
TERRITORIES OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE AND SEIZING ROME ITSELF. INDEED , ZENOBIA
MANAGED IN 270 A.D. TO TAKE OVER THE WHOLE OF SYRIA, CONQUER EGYPT AND HER
SOLDIERS REACHED THE BOSPHORUS STRAIT BLOCKING THE SEA WAYS TO ROME. BUT , LATER
THE ROMAN EMPEROR AURELIAN DEFEATED HER AND SHE WAS KILLED IN MYSTERIOUS
CIRCUMSTANCES, AND GREAT PARTS OF HER CAPITAL WERE DESTROYED . TADMOR ( PALMYRA)
IS LOCATED 150KM. TO THE EAST OF HOMS.
THE MOST
IMPORTANT SITES IN IT ARE :
THE BAAL
TEMPLE, THE ARCH OF TRIUMPH, THE AGORA, THE BATHS, THE STRAIGHT STREET, THE
CONGRESS COUNCIL, AND THE AFQA SPRING WITH ITS HOT SULPHUROUS WATER. THE REMAINS
OF PALMYRA ARE ON DISPLAY AT THE TADMOR MUSEUM, THE DIMASHQ ( DAMASCUS) MUSEUM
AND THE LOUVER IN PARIS.
QASRL`HIRL`GHARBI
IT WAS BUILT
BY THE CALIPH HISHAM IBN ABDUL MALIK IN THE 8TH CENTURY . THIS PALACE
IS SQUARE AND SURROUNDED BY A HUGE WALL . THE MIDDLE PART OF THE PALACE`S
EASTERN FRONT WAS TRANSFERRED TO THE NATIONAL MUSEUM IN DAMASCUS.
QASL`HIRL`SHARQI
IT WAS BUILT
BY THE CALIPH HISHAM IBN ABDUL MALIK IN 728 A.D. IT CONTAINS PALACE RESIDENCE
FOR THE CALIPH AND FOR THE GARRISONS. THERE IS A SMALL MOSQUE IN IT BUILT IN THE
STYLE OF THE OMAYYAD MOSQUE IN DAMASCUS . THERE IS ALSO, A BATH WITH HOT WARM
AND COLD RUNNING WATER, WHICH IS CONSIDERED THE OLDEST OMAYYAD BATH.
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