Palmyra. Syria. Panoramic view of the timeless, ancient city of Palmyra.Palmyra. Syria. View of the south adyton of the Cella, which is the most sacred building of the most impressive Sanctuary of Bel. Priests alone could access the Cella, which was built around 32 AD and owes much of its architectural treatment to the Greek tradition of temple building. Originally, tall columns would have surrounded the entire structure, but only eight survive on the eastern side. The Temple, dedicated to Bel, whom they think was the supreme god of the Palmyrene pantheon, is enormously complex, and workers performed its major construction over several stages from the Hellenistic through to the Roman periods.Palmyra. Syria. View over lush palm trees of the Temple of Bel, which is the most impressive ruin of the ancient city of Palmyra. They dedicated the Temple to Bel, whom they thought was the supreme god of the Palmyrene pantheon. The temple is an enormous complex, and builders constructed its major parts over several stages from the Hellenistic through to the Roman periods.Palmyra. Syria. View of the remaining eight columns of the Cella, the most sacred building of the most impressive Sanctuary of Bel. Priests were the only ones who could access the Cella, which was built around 32 AD. Greek temple-building traditions heavily influenced its architecture.Palmyra. Syria. View of the remaining eight columns of the Cella, the most sacred building of the most impressive Sanctuary of Bel. Priests could only access the Cella, which was built around 32 AD. Its architectural treatment greatly borrows from the Greek tradition of temple building.Palmyra. Syria. View towards the north adyton of the Cella, which is the most sacred building of the most impressive Sanctuary of Bel. Scholars believe Bel was the supreme God of the Palmyrene pantheon, and this building is dedicated to him.Palmyra. Syria. View of the moon god Aglibol from a reconstructed bas-relief that once adorned the Cella at the sanctuary of Bel. This part of the bas-relief shows the moon god Aglibo, with the lunar crescent on his shoulder, wearing Roman costume and standing beside an altar. The temple courtyard is visible in the background. Bel’s Temple, which is thought to be the supreme god of the Palmyrene pantheon, is an enormous complex. Builders performed their major construction over several stages from the Hellenistic through to the Roman periods.Palmyra. Syria. View of the remaining eight columns of the Cella, the most sacred building of the most impressive Sanctuary of Bel. Builders constructed the Cella around 32 AD, and priests were the only ones who could access it. The Cella’s architectural design owes a great deal to the Greek tradition of temple building.Palmyra. Syria. View of some pillars and porticoes that line the upper section of the Great Colonnade Street. Constructed in the 2nd century AD, the street cuts through the ancient city from east to west and is more than one kilometre.Palmyra. Syria. View of the restored Temple of Baal Shamin with its six-column pronaos and side walls decorated with pilasters, all in the Corinthian order. The Temple of Baal Shamin, dedicated to the Phoenician God of fertility and of storms and rains, dates from the first and second centuries AD.Palmyra. Syria. Pillars and porticoes line the central section of the Great Colonnade Street with the hilltop 17th-century Arab castle of Qala at ibn Maan in the distance. Constructed in the 2nd century AD, the Great Colonnade street cuts through the ancient city from east to west and is more than one kilometre long .Palmyra. Syria. Well-preserved columns and porticoes line the second Transverse Street with the hilltop 17th-century Arab castle of Qala at ibn Maan in the distance. Half-way up each column are brackets that held projecting statues over the roadway.Palmyra, Syria. The forbidding, ghostly valley of tombs, with its stark sentinel towers, is visible at dusk. A notable aspect of Palmyra’s Valley of the Tombs is its stark, uninviting terrain, dotted with sentinel towers, some broken and others well-preserved. Their origins trace to the Hellenistic period.Palmyra. Syria. View of the Cella, which is the most sacred building of the Sanctuary of Bel, which is the most impressive ruin of the ancient city of Palmyra. Priests alone could access the Cella, which the Greeks heavily influenced in their temple-building traditions when they constructed it around 32 AD. Dedicated to Bel, whom the Palmyrene people considered their supreme god.Palmyra. Syria. View of the front of the Monumental Arch, which was erected in the early third century AD under Septimius Severus in order to disguise the thirty-degree change of direction of the first and second sections of the Great Colonnade.Palmyra. Syria. View of the 2nd-century theatre, which sand buried until the 1950s. Archaeologists have since largely excavated and restored it to its former glory. The magnificent, adorned stage has a large central door known as the Royal Gate, which is flanked by two smaller ones. Facing the stage is the semi-circular orchestra; 20 metres is diameter and beyond it rises the cavea with its nine rows of seats. Originally the cavea was thirty rows of seats in three storeys.Palmyra. Syria. Archaeologists have largely unearthed and restored the 2nd-century theatre to its former magnificence, after sand buried it until the 1950s. The sumptuous, adorned stage has a large central door known as the Royal Gate, which is flanked by two smaller ones. Facing the stage is the semi-circular orchestra; 20 metres is diameter and beyond it rises the cavea with its nine rows of seats. Originally the cavea was thirty rows of seats in three storeys.Palmyra. Syria. View during sunset of the front of the Monumental Arch, which was erected in the early third century AD under Septimius Severus in order to disguise the thirty-degree change of direction of the first and second sections of the Great Colonnade. Motifs of acorns and oak leaves, palm trunks and acanthus shoots richly decorate the arch.Palmyra. Syria. The ghostly Valley of the Tombs features a view of multiple sentinel tower burial chambers. These tombs are on the gentle slope of Umm al-Belqis and are called the Yemliko towers. The valley of the tombs at Palmyra stands out for its barren, forbidding landscape dotted with solitary tomb towers, some showing decay and others still in good condition.Palmyra. Syria. Pillars and porticoes line the central section of the Great Colonnade Street, which covers the area from the Monumental Arch to the Tetrapylon visible in the background. Constructed in the 2nd century AD, the Great Colonnade street cuts through the ancient city from east to west and is more than one kilometre long . Half-way up each column are brackets that held projecting statues over the roadway.Palmyra. Syria. An arch opening in the south portico of the Great Colonnade street gives access to a road that runs around the hemicycle of the theatre. Constructed in the 2nd century AD, the Great Colonnade street cuts through the ancient city from east to west and is more than one kilometre long . Half-way up each column are brackets that held projecting statues over the roadway.Palmyra. Syria. Partial view of the Agora, which dates from the second century AD. A Corinthian portico surrounds the vast rectangle enclosure on all four sides; many are still standing though most are truncated.Palmyra. Syria. Columns and porticoes line the second Transverse Street with the hilltop 17th-century Arab castle of Qala at ibn Maan in the distance. Half-way up each column are brackets that held projecting statues over the roadway. .Palmyra. Syria. Pillars and porticoes line the central section of the Great Colonnade Street, which covers the area from the Monumental arch to the Tetrapylon visible in the background. Constructed in the 2nd century AD, the Great Colonnade street cuts through the ancient city from east to west and is more than one kilometre long . Half-way up each column are brackets that held projecting statues over the roadway.Palmyra. Syria. View of the Funerary Temple with its elegant portico of six columns. Dating from the third century AD, the temple is more a elaborate temple tomb and stands at the start of the Palmyra necropolis area.Palmyra. Syria. View of the front of the Monumental Arch, which was erected in the early third century AD under Septimius Severus in order to disguise the thirty-degree change of direction of the first and second sections of the Great Colonnade.Palmyra. Syria. The towering Tetrapylon with its Corinthian columns dominates the central section of the Great Colonnade Street. In the background is the hilltop 17th-century Arab castle or citadel of Qala at ibn Maan. The Tetrapylon, which marks and masks the change of direction of the great Colonnade, has four independent pylons, each comprising four columns, and stands on a moulded square plinth at the four corners of a stepped platform.Palmyra. Syria. A view of the 2nd-century theatre shows that sand buried it until the 1950s. Since then, people have largely excavated and restored it, returning it to its former glory. The magnificent, sumptuously adorned stage has a large central door known as the Royal Gate, which is flanked by two smaller ones. Facing the stage is the semi-circular orchestra; 20 metres is its diameter, and beyond it rises the cavea with its nine rows of seats.Palmyra. Syria. View during sunset of the front of the Monumental Arch, which was erected in the early third century AD under Septimius Severus to disguise the thirty degrees change of direction of the first and second sections of the Great Colonnade. The arch features a rich decoration of acorns, oak leaves, palm trunks, and acanthus shoots.Palmyra. Syria. View over lush palm trees of the Temple of Bel, which is the most impressive ruin of the ancient city of Palmyra. Dedicated to Bel, whom the Palmyrene people considered their supreme god, the temple is an enormous complex. Builders constructed its main parts over several stages, from the Hellenistic through to the Roman periods.Palmyra. Syria. The towering Tetrapylon, with its Corinthian columns, dominates the central section of the Great Colonnade Street. In the background is the hilltop 17th-century Arab castle or citadel of Qala at in Maan. The Tetrapylon, which marks and masks the change of direction of the great colonnade, has four independent pylons, each comprising four columns, and stands on a moulded square plinth at the four corners of a stepped platform.
