Syria

Overview

It is the festival of the Silk Road, organized by the Syrian Ministry of Tourism that brings me for the first time to Halepi. Inside the Souk, that together with those of Cairo and Istanbul are considered to be the most lively in the muslim world, I get to know a charming country of incredible historical background.

I am wandering inside the Basilica of St. Simeon the stylite, and the dead byzantine cities, Bara and Sertzila, both abandoned since the arab-byzantine wars, visiting the nories of Hama that date to the 13th century and continuously irrigate the vegetable gardens of the city. It is evening time when I arrive at the city of Queen Zenobia, the mythical Palmyra...

The first rays of sun illuminate the ancient city and I am really in awe! My knowledge of Palmyra is basic; The city lies in the middle of the desert, next to an oasis with palm trees and groundwater which is the reason for its development and for the name Tantmor that the Arabs gave it.
Tantmor was founded around the 19th century, i.e. a long time ago. Alexander the Great's descendants did not give it much attention and the first Romans considered it impregnable.