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HAMA

" Hama is the oldest city all over the world ," the document in the picture above asserts that . It was a prosperous kingdom during the Aramean period. The city is famous for its numerous waterwheels (Norias). Green orchards surround it. The most important ruins in Hama are; the Great Mosque, Abil Fida Mosque, An-Nouri Mosque and Al-Azem Palace.


ABIL FIDA MOSQUE

It has the tomb of its builder (the King of Hama) Ismael Abil Fida. This king was an important geographer, historian and poet. The Mosque has wonderful marble mosaic works. It's also called (Al-Hayaya Mosque) on account of the interlaced stonework around the windows of the courtyard. It has a fine minaret and a room with a ribbed dome, which contains the relics of its builder.


AL-MADIQ CITADEL

It's an Arab citadel lying on the top of the Acropolis of Apamea. It was known as the Apamea Fortress until the sixteenth century. The Arabs conquered it in 638 A.D. As it had a very important military position, the Byzantines conquered it in 975 A.D, but the Arabs regained it in 933 A.D. it's distinguished by the remains of its walls and towers. Also, it has a khan built by the Ottomans in the 16th century A.D and transformed into an archaeological museum.


AL-HASANEIN MOSQUE

This mosque was known as Al-Husein Mosque. The earthquake of 1157 A.D. takes a part of the mosque, so Nur Ad-Din Az-Zanki tried to build what is destroyed of it, and that is mentioned in a writing of six lines on its south front. The Mosque has two domes; the east one is ribbed and based on a square base of 4 meters height, and the west dome is smaller and 2 meters height.


AN-NOURI MOSQUE

It has an archaeological pulpit, which is a piece of wonder. It has also a square minaret and important historical scripts. The admirable minaret banded with black basalt and yellow limestone is original. It was built on the ruins of an old temple. There are important archaeological writings on the north wall. The first writing, in Greek, refers to the courage of the people of Hama against the Roman governors. The second writing, in Arabic, says that the Mosque was a center for scientific meetings.


APAMEA MUSEUM

It was a caravan serai for Mohammad Qizlar during the reign of Sultan Sulaiman. It has been restored and transformed into a museum in 1982. It consists of a large courtyard surrounded by huge halls, where various objects from Apamea and other sites are exhibited. It contains the most wonderful pieces of mosaic, such as; the mosaic of Socrates and the Seven Wise Men (4th century A.D.) and other mosaics. All of these made it one of the most important international museums in this regard.


APAMEA

51,664 visitors in 1999 . The Arabic name is (Afamia) .It was Saluqos Nikator’s center of his military leadership. He named it Apamea after his wife's name. It’s a perfect image of mixture of Greek and local Syrian civilizations, which was creative in every corner and place. As an Eastern cross roads, it received many distinguished persons, such as; Septimus, Severus and the Emperor Caracalla.In the Christian era, Apamea became a center of philosophy and thoughts, especially Monophostism.


BEEHIVE HOUSES

People of some parts of Hama countryside used to live in cone clay beehive houses. Now they use these Beehive Houses for animals and crops.


CROSS MONASTERY

The Arabic name is (Deir As-Saleeb). It consists of a Basilica and some tombs. A dome built with lime stones covers one of these tombs, which remain intact. There are three stones coffins decorated with cross signs inside this tomb. East of this Monastery is a town, which was hidden under the earth many centuries ago.


EPHKA SPRING

The Spring of Ephka, in ancient inscriptions, was an Aramaic word meaning (way out). It's clear slightly sulphurous water is said to have medicinal properties. It has fed an oasis here, with olives, date palms, cotton and cereals. For generations, this oasis was known as Palmyra or Tadmor.


ESSERYEH

Its old name is (Syrian). It's in ruins, except its lime stone temple, which consists of three floors. In the middle of its eastern wall, there is a high entrance decorated with very beautiful ornaments. There are two towers on the two sides of the entrance; one of them has a staircase, which leads to the roof of the temple.


HAMA CITADEL

It's the heart and the first origin of the city. It's now a big heap of dust, on which the Ministry of Tourism planted trees and set up a big handsome park, where the tourists and the visitors can spend wonderful time enjoying the numerous and the most beautiful sceneries of Hama city.


HAMA MUSEUM

It's a new building containing various objects found in Hama County dating back to different ages. It also contains samples of Hama traditional fashions, and a very important mosaic work.


IBN WARDAN PALACE

1,835 visitors in 1999 . It's one of the most important ruins in Hama County. These ruins consist of three buildings; the Palace, the Military Camp and the Church. All of them were built of brick, lime stones and basalt stones. Some of the interior walls were decorated with mosaics or marble.


KHANS

In Hama city, there is a number of baths (Hammams) and caravan serais (Khans).
The most famous is Rustum Pasha Khan in Al-Marabet Street, which is now a market (Souq) for handicrafts.


MHARDEH

It's an ancient city. It dates back to the same period of Apamea and Sheizar prosperity. The antiques found in the caves, which were inhabited then, have revealed this.


MISYAF CITADEL

2,232 visitors in 1999 . It's one of the most important citadels in Hama. It lies on a great rocky hill. This Citadel has two walls; one of them is represented by a rocky edge and the other wall is for its own. So, it was a great defensive citadel and building of Ismaeliyah.


MISYAF

It's surrounded by a low ancient wall and charming forest. It has fine fair climate in summer. There are many important archaeological citadels near by. The most famous one is Misyaf Citadel, which dates back to B.C. eras. The Mongols occupied Misyaf in 1260 A.D. Then Sultan Baybars conquered it in 1270 A.D.


NORIAS

The Waterwheels, or Norias were used for irrigation in Hama for a long time ago. They were first mentioned in a mosaic found in Apamea dating back to the 5th century A.D. There are 16 Norias still turning round on the Orontes River. The highest Noria in Hama is Al-Mohammadiyah (diameter: 21m), west of Hama. These Norias provide a fascinating spectacle and a fine tune.


PUBLIC BATHS

The Arabic name is (Hammam). There are many baths in Hama city, such as: 
1- The Sultan Bath : The king Al-Mansour Mohammad .
2- Al-Ibeissi Bath : The king Al-Mudaffar Omar .
3- Al-As'adiyah Bath : As'ad Pash Al-Azem .
4- Ad'Darwishiyah Bath : the Ottoman Period .
5- Al-Othmaniyah Bath : the Ottoman Period .


SALAMIYEH

It was called Salamess. It's truly the capital of the commercial amalgam between the Urbanites and the Bedouins. Tal Al-Gazala, which lies east of it, was the ancient Salamiyeh. Then the town spread west and northwest during the Hellenistic, the Roman, the Byzantine and the Islamic periods. The Arabs conquered Salamiyeh peacefully in 638 A.D.


SHMEIMIS CITADEL

It's the Fortress of the Sun or Shmeimis Citadel. It lies on a high cone mountain. Most of its buildings are in ruins, except the city wall. It dominates the steppe type plain at about 4 km from Salamiyeh. Assad Ad-Din Shirikuh has built the present building in 1230 A.D.


SQEILBIYEH

It's an ancient city. It prospered at the times of Apamea prosperity, and knew all the ancient Syrian ages. In the past, it lied on a hill, which located on the northern part of the present Sqeilbiyeh. This hill still exists with old and new houses. Sqeilbiyeh is full of natural and touristy places like; AL-Halawah Mill, AL-Teep Spring, AL-Bared River and Innab.


THE GREAT MOSQUE

The Great Mosque was built in a place of a Byzantine church, which most likely replaced a Pagan temple. It contains a Greek writing of 12 lines. The Mosque has the tombs of the two kings; Al-Mansour II and his son Al-Mudaffar III.


TRDITIONAL MUSEUM

If was called Al-Azem Palace. The Department of Antiquities and Museums bought it in 1956 and restored it to become the Archaeological and Folklore Museum of Hama. It has two parts; the women's part (Haramlek) and the men's part (Zalamlek). Both parts consist of two layers, where you see the beauty of Arab architecture, in addition to the fountains and magnolia tree in the middle of the courtyard. It contains objects found in Hama region dating back from the 2nd millennium B.C. to the 14th century A.D.