Qasr Alheer Alsharqi قصر الحير الشرقي December 26, 2007
Posted by hovic & abd in arab era, castles, desert, syria, قصر الحير الشرقي.add a comment
Qasr Alheer Alsharqi (Eastern Alheer Palace) is located in the heart of the desert in Syria at distance of 128 km from Palmyra and 100 km from Sergiopolis (Rusafa). It was built by Umayyad kalif Hisham Ibn Abdul-Malek about 740 A.D. in an area rich in desert fauna.
It is said that kalif was used to pass his leasure time here, and go for hunting and learn pure Arabic from local bedouin tribes.
The palace is composed of two structures, the bigger one has a diameter of 300m and the lesser one 100m. It is found at the slopes of Bishri Mountain, near Palmyran Middle Mountains. The palaces contain remnants of rooms, arches and columns seem to be parts of a huge complex of royal premises. Some of the decorated parts are moved to Damascus National Museum.
The bigger palace has been several floors, with a huge gate and many towers. Towers were not built as defensive measures. There were also olive yards and a oil extracting mills. The palaces were supplied by water from nearby byzantine church by a canal 5700m long. The palaces contained bathrooms, water reservoirs, mosques and gardens.
Desert And Oasis January 29, 2007
Posted by hovic & abd in desert, nature, syria.add a comment
Like mountains, forests, and flowers, desert also has some beauty. Especially if the desert has dried lakes, called “subkha”, and variety of yellow colors.
Oasis are considered the shiny green parts of deserts, they are specially beautiful, they appear in the middle of yellow as green spots.
Qasr Al-Heer Al-Gharbi قصر الحير الغربي January 27, 2007
Posted by hovic & abd in arab era, desert, syria, قصر الحير الغربي.add a comment
The weather was so nice here now in winter! In the depths of Syrian Desert, which is called Al-Badiye, truly not desert, kind of grass containing lands, where Bedouins ramble, found the palace of Omayyad kalif Hisham Abdul-Malek.
It is said that kalif went to hunting there, it was his resort and favorite place.
Nothing much remained from the palace, the front is now in Damascus museum, plus other pieces of statues describing kalif Hisham.
A link to palace’s history: http://www.syriatourism.org/index.php?module=subjects&func=viewpage&pageid=2230
Long roads with smooth drive. Enjoy the silence.
Photos from Flickr linking here:
