On Saturday, I traveled with a new Canadian friend (whom I met at the Sultan Hotel on my final day there) to Bosra, a city of great import during the Nabatean and Roman periods (c. 2nd century BC to as long as the 7th century AD). The Nabateans moved their capital here from Petra in the 1st century before Christ, while Trajan conquered it in about 106AD (I think); it was a major garrison town thereafter, guarding against first the Parthians and then the Sassanids (Persians). According to one legend, Mohammad supposedly traveled to Bosra on caravan and heard about Christianity by a Nestorian (Assyrian Church of the East) monk.
The very comfortable ride was about two hours and cost me about $1 (each way). The day was overall really rather pleasant, breezy and not overly hot. In the first photo, you will hopefully be able to see a motorcycle riding through the Western Gate (Roman arch). What makes Bosra so unique (if not rather weird) is that the locals live amongst the ruins. Their stone houses (not of the best of modern architecture) are such as could have been built their a hundred or five hundred years ago -- except for the omnipresent satellite dishes (only allowed, I have heard, since about 2000). So it is a bit odd walking amongst the ruins and walking by people going about their daily lives. There were really only a few tourists around -- dare I say twenty?
What everyone goes to Bosra to see is the Roman Theatre. Like almost everything else in the city, it is built of basalt.
It could seat 15,000 people. Note that it was a theatre for the fine arts, not for gladiator sports (viewed at the amphitheatre). It is so well preserved because the local Moslem rulers in the 13th century (name escapes me at the moment; I think not the Mamelukes) fortified it and built a citadel around it. Thus one enters unsuspectingly from the outside and only upon entering the interior via a number of tunnels does one come upon this fine specimen of a traditional Roman theatre -- the largest in the East.
I was unable to upload a photo of the Church of Ss Sergius and Bacchus, dating from the 6th century. It was still intact a century ago, but in the meantime it has been stripped so that there is really not much to see anyway. There is but one recognizable fresco -- of the Virgin Theotokos -- as well as a very faded one of the church's patrons, Ss Sergius and Bachus (two soldier-martyrs).
Bosra is a must for any visitor to Syria, but, from what I hear, perhaps not as exotic as, say, Palmyra. But as a relaxed day trip from Damascus, it is well worth the effort.
The very comfortable ride was about two hours and cost me about $1 (each way). The day was overall really rather pleasant, breezy and not overly hot. In the first photo, you will hopefully be able to see a motorcycle riding through the Western Gate (Roman arch). What makes Bosra so unique (if not rather weird) is that the locals live amongst the ruins. Their stone houses (not of the best of modern architecture) are such as could have been built their a hundred or five hundred years ago -- except for the omnipresent satellite dishes (only allowed, I have heard, since about 2000). So it is a bit odd walking amongst the ruins and walking by people going about their daily lives. There were really only a few tourists around -- dare I say twenty?
What everyone goes to Bosra to see is the Roman Theatre. Like almost everything else in the city, it is built of basalt.
It could seat 15,000 people. Note that it was a theatre for the fine arts, not for gladiator sports (viewed at the amphitheatre). It is so well preserved because the local Moslem rulers in the 13th century (name escapes me at the moment; I think not the Mamelukes) fortified it and built a citadel around it. Thus one enters unsuspectingly from the outside and only upon entering the interior via a number of tunnels does one come upon this fine specimen of a traditional Roman theatre -- the largest in the East.
I was unable to upload a photo of the Church of Ss Sergius and Bacchus, dating from the 6th century. It was still intact a century ago, but in the meantime it has been stripped so that there is really not much to see anyway. There is but one recognizable fresco -- of the Virgin Theotokos -- as well as a very faded one of the church's patrons, Ss Sergius and Bachus (two soldier-martyrs).
Bosra is a must for any visitor to Syria, but, from what I hear, perhaps not as exotic as, say, Palmyra. But as a relaxed day trip from Damascus, it is well worth the effort.
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