Vic's Pics

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After visiting Krak des Chevaliers where we had yet another huge traditional Middle East lunch, we headed for the city of Aleppo and what a city this is. We arrived late in the day and after settling into our hotel which is a converted traditional Arab house, we snuck out into the city which was teaming with people in the narrow transport free streets. If you're a shopaholic, this is the place to be and again, the people were so friendly.



Pic 1 2. This is the hotel room we had in Aleppo, in comparison to our Damascus and Petra rooms, this was shear luxury and its location in the older part of the city was ideal.





Pic 3 4. This little gem of a hardware store (I use the term liberally) was right next to the hotel and my partner, never one to resist a bargain was easily lured inside.



The next morning we moved off to the Monastery of St Simeon which was built around the pillar that St. Simeon the Stylite who sat atop it for a reputed 37 years.



Pic 5. The ruins of the St. Simeon Monastery main entrance.



Pic 6. More views through the arches.



Pic 7. The early monks who came to the pillar were put to work building the monastery and one among them was a former stone mason who passed on his knowledge and skills to his fellow monks.



Pic 8 to 11. More views of the remains of the monastery.





 

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Today was spent in the Citadel of Aleppo which is reputed to be one of the largest and oldest castles in the world.


Pic 1. The approach to the Citadel which is the central focus of the city. Though currently dry and under repair, the citadel is completely surrounded by a moat.


Pic 2. As was our experience all through Syria, the people were very friendly and we were often stopped for a photo call, this one on the lower entrance gate to the citadel.


Pic 3. The steppe bridge leading up to the imposing main entrance.


Pic 4 5. A couple of internal pictures.



Pic 6. This is the dungeon deep in the bowels of the citadel and only accessible by a small door and a very precarious flight of steep steps.


Pic 7. A view of the internal roof of the citadel, only one third of the internal buildings have been properly excavated and much of it is still covered in the sand and dust of time overgrown by vegitation.


Pic 8. The massage baths and rooms which were an integral part of the Syrian culture of the time.


Pic 9. The roof of the massage rooms which have this dome shape with colander type holes punched in them sealed with glass bottle ends.


Pic 10. The internal effect of the glass bottle ends.


Pic 11 12. The great hall within the building which was located in the tower of the main gate where we entred.



Pic 13. A view through the machicolation parapet looking down on the main entrance. Through this any invader trying to storm the citadel could be fired upon or have boiling oil poured over them. It was also explained that heated sand was also used, the grains being like tiny heated balls of glass and more destructive than boiling oil.


Pic 14. This view also look down on the entrance hall.
 
Thanks folks for the comments, today we finalise the tour of Aleppo with a peek at the Grand Mosque before heading back down southward and west.


Pic 1. The inner court yard to the mosque where shoes have to be removed before entry.


Pic 2. A quick peek into the mosque which like most we visited have a certain elegance and a feeling of grace about them.


Pic 3. This fellow was lurking outside the masque selling tea in small glasses, something I had not seen since my childhood in Egypt.

Heading south we stopped off at a small town of Elba which was brought to fame in the mid 1960s. It's not much to look at, but was a thriving community about 2500-2000BC and it is here that the well preserved cuneiform tablets were discovered.


Pic 4. Cuneiform tablet


Pic 5 6. An unimpressive view of the soil over the ramparts of the city wall that have yet to be excavated. The area is huge with a very large mound at its centre, surrounded by an earth rampart which has proven to be the remains of the city wall which is now totally covered in the sand and soil of past century's.


The next stop on this long day out was at Hama which is on the bank of the river Orontes, it has some very old water wheels and sadly a river that is very dry and rather stinky.


Pic 7 8. The norias (water wheels) of Hama the darker is the second one to have been placed here, this was by the Romans who had enlarged the original. The lighter wheel was built in more recent times and for you English folk, these two wheels are almost as big as the Laxey Wheel in the Isle of Man.



Pic 9. Just couldn't resist this picture, it's that arch thing again.

Next stop is the desert town of Palmyra.
 
Thanks Eric, that's very kind of you to say so.

So travelling to Palmyra was a long and dusty drive with little to see except a few hills, Bedouins with hundreds of sheep and goats, the only excitement was driving past an Syrian Air Force base which was wayback off the road in the desert haze. Our guide by the way, referred to this desolate land as the Steppe Lands of Syria and not a desert.


Pic 1. This is the surrounding countryside of Palmyra, the tower in the background is a tomb which we were about to visit.


Pic 2. Here we are almost at the front door, the crowd is waiting for the gate keeper to open up. The tomb has four floors and a very narrow stairway.


Pic 3 4. The inside of the ground floor, the decorations are of carved sandstone and some painting was evident. These tombs were designed so that the bodies, placed on stone trays were stacked in alcoves, similar to a modern day mortuary. The whole area was scattered with the tower tombs, each one belonging to a family.



Pic 5. This unimpressive doorway was down a flight of steps taking you some 3 metres below the ground and on entering you went down about another 2 meters into the tomb. Sadly no photography was allowed but this tomb was excavated by three very enterprising brothers who rented out burial space. As long as you payed the rent, your loved ones remained safe.


Pic 6. This great hole once had the main road rolling over it. It's collapse revealed more tombs and the story goes that many a Bedouin on 'walk about' has been swallowed down holes that just appear without warning.


Pic 7. Yet another citadel out in the middle of the back of beyond.


Pic 8 9. And the view from the citadel shows the desolation of the country around and our next stop. The ruined city of Palmyra which is so huge that we are spending the night in the oasis town.


 
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