Syrian Air

  Ministry of Tourism

     Hims

Hims is considered as a third important city in Syria .It was called Emesa. It witnessed several civilizations; the Arab Canaanites, the Amorites, the Hittites then it yielded to Alexander the Macedonian, the Seleucids, and the Romans until 636 A.D when it became part of Islamic Empire. The discovered races of man in this County date back to the Stone Age. Traces and stone tools were found on the banks of the Orontes. Throughout the ages, it lost most of its beautiful buildings, palaces and temples. Ibn Al Waleed Mosque: The Mosque was rebuilt according to a mixture of styles; Byzantine, Ottoman and Arab. It contains the reputed tomb of one of the early followers of Muhammed, Khlid Ibn AL-Walid, who led the military campaigns to Syria during the Islamic conquest. He died in 642 A.D. The Great Mosque: It's also called (An-Nouri Mosque). It's a vast rectangular building with a long courtyard. It lies on what was probably the site of the Pagan Temple and the later Church of St. John. It's believed that it occupied the place of the Holy Temple of Sun, which was built under rule of Shams gram Pagan Family. Palmyra: Palmyra is in the heart of Syrian Desert. Its intermediate geographic position made it the most important commercial center between Mesopotamia and the Mediterranean Sea. Excavations show that it is one of the most ancient in the world. It was inhabited by the Canaanites, the Arameans, and then it yielded to The Romans in the first century A.D. Then the Moslem Arabs under the leadership of Khaled Ibn Al-Waleed conquered it in 636 A.D. Its magnificent remains tell of heroic history during the reign of Queen Zenobia. Palmyra museum: 58,870 visitors in 1999 . The most important collection is the religious and funerary art .The latter is the sculptural tradition by which patrician and wealthy families commemorated their dead. Also worthy of note are the mosaics recovered from private houses east of the Bel Temple. Some have been transferred to Damascus National Museum, but among the note able sections retained in Palmyra is Achilles at Skyros, 1,70 meters wide, end of the 3rd century A.D.