
Experts call for restoration of Syria's heritage sites, including the Roman ruins at Palmyra
Syria's renowned landmarks, such as the ancient city of Palmyra and the medieval castle of Crac des Chevaliers, still bear the scars of nearly 14 years of war.
Conservationists, however, are optimistic that their historical and cultural significance will eventually draw international visitors back, helping to revitalise the country's economy. Local tourists are already returning, they say.
Palmyra
Palmyra, one of Syria's six UNESCO World Heritage sites, once thrived as a key hub on the ancient Silk Road, linking the Roman and Parthian empires to Asia.
Situated in the Syrian desert, the site is home to remarkable 2,000-year-old Roman-era ruins. These historic structures now bear the marks of destruction, with shattered columns and damaged temples.
Before the Syrian uprising in 2011, which spiralled into a bloody civil war, Palmyra was Syria's top tourist destination, drawing around 150,000 visitors each month.
'Palmyra revitalised the steppe and used to be a global tourist magnet,' Ayman Nabu, a researcher and expert in ancient ruins told The Associated Press, explaining that the site was known as the 'Bride of the Desert'.
The capital of an Arab client state under the Roman Empire, Palmyra holds particular significance as the site where Queen Zenobia famously led a brief rebellion in the third century, carving out her own kingdom. However, in more recent history, the site has gained more sinister associations.
Notably, the city was home to Tadmur prison, a notorious detention centre where thousands of political prisoners, including opponents of the Assad regime, were reportedly tortured. When the Islamic State (IS) captured the town, they demolished the prison and later set about destroying Palmyra's iconic monuments, including the temples of Bel and Baalshamin, as well as the Arch of Triumph, seeing them as symbols of idolatry. IS militants also beheaded Khaled al-Asaad, an elderly antiquities scholar who had spent his life overseeing Palmyra's ancient ruins.
Between 2015 and 2017, control of Palmyra shifted between IS and the Syrian army, until it was recaptured by forces loyal to Bashar al-Assad, with the backing of Russia and Iranian militias. The surrounding areas were left heavily damaged, and many historical sites, including the 16th-century Fakhr al-Din al-Ma'ani Castle, were repurposed for military use. The castle, for example, served as a barracks for Russian troops.
Researcher and expert Ayman Nabu was among the first to visit Palmyra after the fall of the Assad regime. 'We saw extensive excavation within the tombs,' he recalls. 'The Palmyra museum was in a deplorable state, with missing documents and artifacts – we have no idea what happened to them.'
Nabu also detailed significant looting that occurred during the IS occupation, noting that at the theatre (the Tetrapylon) and other ruins along the main colonnaded street there were many illegal drillings revealing sculptures, as well as theft and smuggling of funerary or tomb-related sculptures.
While seven of the stolen sculptures were recovered and sent to a museum in Idlib, 22 others were smuggled out of Syria and likely ended up in underground markets or private collections.
Inside the city's underground tombs, Islamic verses are scrawled on the walls, while plaster now covers ancient wall paintings, many of which feature mythological scenes reflective of Palmyra's deep cultural connection to the Greco-Roman world.
'Syria has a treasure of ruins,' Nabu said, underscoring the need for urgent preservation efforts to safeguard the country's rich cultural legacy. However, Nabu also noted that Syria's interim administration, led by the Islamist former insurgent group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, has decided to wait until after the political transition before creating a strategic plan for restoring the nation's heritage sites.
UNESCO has been remotely supporting the protection of Syrian cultural heritage since 2015 through satellite analyses and documentation. Matthieu Lamarre, a UNESCO representative, acknowledged the agency's limited presence on the ground, noting that the body had provided reports and recommendations to local experts, but no on-site restoration work had been carried out.
Crac des Chevaliers
Some 183 km away, Crac des Chevaliers – a medieval castle built by the Romans and later expanded by the Crusaders – also bears the scars of war. Perched on a hill near Al-Husn, the castle was heavily bombarded during the civil war.
Hazem Hanna, head of the antiquities department at Crac des Chevaliers, pointed to the damage caused by government airstrikes in 2014, which destroyed the castle's central courtyard and decorative columns.
'Relying on the cultural background of Syria's historical sites and their archaeological and historical significance to enthusiasts worldwide, I hope and expect that when the opportunity arises for tourists to visit Syria, we will witness a significant tourism revival,' he said.
While sections of Crac des Chevaliers have been restored after airstrikes and the deadly 2023 7.8-magnitude earthquake, much of the castle remains in ruin. Hanna and Nabu agree that the restoration of Syria's heritage sites will be a long-term project, requiring technical expertise and careful planning.
The Dead Cities
Syria's northwest region is home to more than 700 abandoned Byzantine settlements, collectively known as the Dead Cities. These weathered ruins feature remnants of stone houses, basilicas, and colonnaded streets. Though many of the structures are in partial collapse, the intricate carvings and towering church facades persist, amidst long-established olive trees.
Despite the devastation caused by conflict, some of the Dead Cities – which date back to the first century – now shelter displaced Syrians. While some of the ruins have been repurposed for housing and barns, others have fallen prey to looting, with valuable artefacts being stolen and smuggled.
Moustafa Al-Kaddour, a local resident who returned to the Dead Cities after eight years, reflected on his childhood memories, noting that the site was once a place where he would attend school. 'My feelings are indescribable,' he said, after finally returning home.
The Dead Cities were added to UNESCO's World Heritage List in 2011 as an open-air museum, Nabu said. Idlib province alone hosts 'over 1,000 heritage sites spanning different time periods — about a third of Syria's total ruins,' he added.
Nabu explained that, in addition to the bombings and airstrikes, looting and unapproved excavation have inflicted considerable damage, with new construction near the ruins being poorly planned and posing a threat to preservation.
The expert added that 'tens of thousands' of looted artefacts remain undocumented. For those that have been recorded, authorities are working with the Directorate of Antiquities and Museums to compile case files for international distribution, with the aim of locating and recovering them.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


France 24
2 hours ago
- France 24
🌟The Bright Side: Ancient tomb complex discovered as Syria clears war rubble
A contractor digging into the earth where the rubble of a destroyed house had been cleared away in northern Syria stumbled across a surprise: the remains of an underground Byzantine tomb complex believed to be more than 1,500 years old. The discovery emerged last month in the town of Maarat al-Numan in Idlib province, which is strategically located on the route between the cities of Aleppo and Damascus. The community became a touchpoint in the nearly 14-year Syrian civil war that ended with the fall of former president Bashar Al-Assad in a lightning rebel offensive in December. Assad's forces seized the area back from opposition control in 2020. Houses were looted and demolished. Aerial images of the area show many houses still standing but without roofs. Now residents are beginning to return and rebuild. In the course of a reconstruction project, stone openings were uncovered indicating the presence of ancient graves. Residents notified the directorate of antiquities, which dispatched a specialised team to inspect and secure the site. Aboveground, it's a residential neighborhood with rows of cinder-block buildings, many of them damaged in the war. Next to one of those buildings, a pit leads down to the openings of two burial chambers, each containing six stone tombs. The sign of the cross is etched into the top of one stone column. 'Based on the presence of the cross and the pottery and glass pieces that were found, this tomb dates back to the Byzantine era,' said Hassan al-Ismail, director of antiquities in Idlib. He noted that the discovery adds to an already rich collection of archeological sites in the area. Idlib "has a third of the monuments of Syria, containing 800 archaeological sites in addition to an ancient city,' al-Ismail said.


Euronews
2 hours ago
- Euronews
Kyiv's UNESCO site St Sophia Cathedral damaged in Russian attack
A Russian overnight attack on Ukraine's capital has damaged Saint Sophia Cathedral, one of the most famous and cherished monuments in Ukraine and a UNESCO World Heritage site. Officials reported that a blast wave destroyed the cornice on the central apse of the cathedral, damaging the monument that embodies the country's spiritual and cultural heritage. "Last night, the enemy struck at the very heart of our identity again," Ukraine's culture minister Mykola Tochytskyi said after the attack. Tochytskyi said St Sophia Cathedral was "a holy place that has survived through centuries and symbolises the birth of our nationhood." 'The 11th-century cathedral is the soul of all Ukraine. Russia is raging its war not only against our cities, it is waging a war against our culture, memory and future," he emphasised. The management of St Sophia Cathedral has informed UNESCO about the damage caused to the historic site by a recent Russian airstrike, according to Nelia Kukovalska, General Director of the National Reserve "Sophia of Kyiv". Located in Kyiv's historic city centre, St Sophia was initially designed to rival the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul. UNESCO describes it as "a unique monument of architecture and monumental art of the early 11th century, having the biggest preserved collection of mosaics and frescoes of that period." Following Russia's full-scale invasion in early 2022, UNESCO has put St Sophia Cathedral and other historic sites in Ukraine on the UN danger list, saying, "faced with the risk of direct attack, these sites are also vulnerable to the shockwaves caused by the bombing." Iran has executed nine members of the so-called Islamic State (IS) group who were detained after a deadly clash in 2018 with the country's Revolutionary Guard, state media reported on Tuesday. According to the judiciary-run Mizan news agency, the death sentences had been upheld by Iran's Supreme Court and carried out by hanging. The men were reportedly apprehended following clashes in western Iran, in which three members of the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard and several IS fighters were killed. Iranian authorities said they had recovered a substantial cache of weapons from the militants' hideout, including a machine gun and 50 grenades. IS, which once held vast swathes of Iraq and Syria under a self-styled caliphate it declared in 2014, has since lost most of its territory following a campaign by US-led coalition forces. However, it has remained active, launching attacks across the region. The group has also claimed responsibility for several attacks inside Iran, including a high-profile assault in June 2017 on the Iranian parliament and the mausoleum of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, which left at least 18 dead and over 50 injured. The 2018 clash with the Revolutionary Guard marked a spike in tensions between Iran and IS. More recently, in 2024, IS claimed two suicide bombings targeting a memorial event for Qassem Soleimani, the Iranian general killed by a US drone strike in 2020. That attack by the militant group resulted in the deaths of at least 94 people. Analysts say IS could take advantage of the security vacuum in Syria, following the fall last year of Bashar al-Assad, to stage a comeback while its new leaders are still consolidating their control over the country and forming a national army.


Euronews
2 hours ago
- Euronews
Jizzakh: Soviet history and alpine escapes in Uzbekistan's highlands
Nicknamed the 'Switzerland of Uzbekistan', Jizzakh offers travellers a mix of cultural depth and outdoor adventure. The city's Rashidov Square honours Soviet-era leader and writer Sharaf Rashidov, whose former family home is now a museum filled with personal mementos. Nearby, the Museum of Hamid Olimjon and Zulfiya celebrates Uzbekistan's beloved literary couple. Just two hours away, Zaamin National Park offers a striking contrast — alpine meadows, high-altitude trails, and adrenaline rides like ziplining and suspension bridges. The park also features the centuries-old Grandfather Walnut tree and the Thousand-Year-Old Juniper. For those seeking comfort, luxury resorts like Zamindor blend mountain views with spa serenity, attracting a growing number of international visitors.