Isolated from the world in the middle of nowhere, the ancient caravan city of Palmyra fell to Rome, and she returned the honor by dressing of temples and public buildings whose ruins shipped in the desert an unexpected discovery.
From the capital, Damascus, we must have at least three hours a rocky and dusty villages to land on almost cinematic staging of Palmyra, the great caravan city that was incorporated into the Roman Empire and lived centuries of glory thanks to the transfer of goods and knowledge that flowed through the Silk Road from the depths of Asia to the Mediterranean ports. What remained of Palmira not overlooking the sea at all, but as already noted in the eighteenth Earl of Volney in his writings on the legendary cultures of the Middle East or Greece or Italy of antiquity left something comparable to what containing these ruins in the desert.
They say it could have been raised in King Solomon, but hesitates as to what the story is less about the strength and independence which reached Palmyra, connected with other business epicenters like today Nabatean city of Petra Jordan, and at Like the latter, favored both by its strategic location as taxes not insignificant that required anyone who wanted transit insurance for their domains.
The magnificent panorama of Roman ruins that dress up and down seems proof enough that this plaza edged by palm trees that gave its name had its heyday in the time of Hadrian and Caracalla, but also its legendary Queen Zenobia. Although his biography is more worthy of a fictional character than a flesh and blood woman, the Cleopatra Syrian left his name associated forever to Palmyra.
A mid-third century, knowing mistress of one of the key cities of the Ancient World, Zenobia dared to challenge Rome, losing the final game before the hosts of Aurelian. Then it was rebuilt, and passed from hand to hand among the great civilizations that ruled for these payments, but that defeat of Zenobia was the beginning of the decline of Palmyra, which topped the earthquake in 1089 that sealed his fate collapsing much of its grandeur and making it an exciting network of ruins in which, until not so long ago, Bedouin families took refuge with their herds.
Walking very first time between the Corinthian columns of the portico and evocative Via makings of Tetrapylon or at dusk, from the Temple of Baal in which sacrifices were made to the supreme god of Palmyra or, better still, from the heights of the Moorish castle of Qal Ibn Maan, which oversees its decline from the top of a hill bare and dry. If you choose the right light, the view is superb you look where you look.
Among the arid wilderness, on a lunar plain all imaginable ocher blunt symmetrical rows of temples and columns lopped or proudly standing baths, arches, tombs and palaces, a great theater and, in between, a great jumble of capitals and shafts, cornices, pilasters, corbels and scattered on the ground under the blazing sun that refuses to grant clemency in the summer vertical.
PRACTICAL GUIDE
Directions
Direct flights between Madrid and Damascus, with Syrian Air from € 409, and stopping, along with companies.
Getting around Palmyra
To avoid the nearly twenty minute walk to the ruins from Tadmor-the bland city that focuses hotels, restaurants and souks, and they live in the locals, can take a taxi, and some even make the bike leg . The taxi option is most comfortable, and easy to agree a fixed price with the driver for all trips and excursions you want to be in the days of Palmyra. Especially in the summer, it is much recommended to wake up and enjoy the ruins in the best light and the cool of the morning, returning to the village or the hotel when the heat begins to tighten, and return to the ruins a few hours before sunset to end to visit them and complete the day admiring the sunset from the heights of the Moorish castle.
Package Tours
Iberojet (in any travel agency) is one of the many wholesalers who offer tours to these destinations. Their program includes classic Syria flights, seven nights’ hotel and guided tour of Damascus, Palmyra, Crac des Chevaliers, Hama, Aleppo, San Simeon, Sergilla, Apamea, Homs, the Monastery of Mar Mousa, Maloula and Bosra, from € 1,000. It also has other circuits that combine with neighboring Syria, Jordan and even Lebanon.
Where to sleep
Abound in the holiday village all categories, although none with the location of luxurious Zenobia Cham Palace, overlooking the ruins and in a fully renovated building a couple of years between the palm. Also among the best, the five-star Dedeman Tadamora Palace and Palmyra.
Where to eat
The terrace of the said Zenobia Cham Palace is a great option because, rather than the food itself, by the views of the ruins. Already in the city, Wadi Restaurant (nearby Citadel) more traditional home offers local flavors to enjoy, weather permitting, another nice terrace. The restaurants in the area, to be largely aimed at passing tourists, rarely dispense the genuine delight that it is easy to find at restaurants in Damascus or Aleppo.
Do not miss
The glorious sunsets that give away their evenings inspired the heights of the medieval fortress of Ibn Maan Qal over the desert and ruins, tinting everything from saffron to round off the day in Palmyra.