Grand Syria
Fourteen days from the south to cities and coast.
Damascus · Bosra · Maaloula · Palmyra / Tadmur · Homs
✦ Six World Heritage properties in context✦ Cities, desert and coast
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Qasr al-Hayr al-Sharqi
An Umayyad desert complex where architecture, water and empire met beyond the cities.
WHY GO
An Umayyad desert complex where architecture, water and empire met beyond the cities.
Qasr al-Hayr al-Sharqi is an early Umayyad complex east of Palmyra that combined monumental architecture with settlement, agriculture, water management and control of a desert route. Its walls, towers and gateway show how Umayyad power operated beyond Damascus.
What to see
- Fortified enclosures, towers and gateway.
- Mosque, settlement and water-management remains in the desert landscape where accessible.
- The desert setting and traces of the agricultural zone and water systems that sustained the settlement.
What to experience
- Read the relationship between early Islamic architecture, land use, water and the desert route.
Food
Supplies and stops are arranged according to verified route services.
How long to stay
A desert excursion only after current route and access are verified.
SUGGESTED JOURNEYS
Place it within a route.