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, evvel 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 küresel 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 yasa dışı 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 evvel 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.

Last month, representatives from international organisations and academics met in Rome to discuss strategies to preserve Syria’s cultural heritage.***