Qal�at Sam�an (Saint-Simon): This citadel is 60 kilometers northwest of Aleppo. It was named after the hermit Saint-Simon (Sam�an), a shepherd from northern Syria, who became a monk after a revelation in a dream. Following Saint-Simon�s death in 459, the Emperor Zenon ordered that a cathedral be built where the saint used to pray. The layout was original, centering on the famous column from which Saint-Simon used to preach. Four basilicas, arranged in the shape of a cross, opened into an octagon covered by a dome, in the center of which stood the holy column. It is a beautiful church built on the ridge of the hill where Saint-Simon had taken up �residence�. Simplicity and harmony combine to make the ruins of the Basilica of St. Simon (an earthquake destroyed parts of the church less than half a century after it had been built) a masterpiece of pre-Islamic art in Syria. In the 10^th century, some towers and walls were erected. It was then called �Qal�at Sam�an� (Simon�s citadel). It became the center of conflict between Byzantium and the Hamadani kingdom; in 986, the son of Sayf al-Dawla al-Hamadani finally captured it.

The church of Qalb Lawzi (Idleb): This is 65 kilometers west of Aleppo. It dates back to the 6^th century, and is a masterpiece of Syrian Byzantine art.

Ebla (Tal Mardikn � Idleb): It is 25 kilometers southeast of Idleb. It is the site of important and recent archaeological discoveries. Excavations in the �Tal Mardikn� have revealed a very old Syrian civilization, that of Ebla, which flourished in the 3ed and 2^nd millenniums B.C, In the palace of this great kingdom, a library containing more than 17�000 clay tablets was uncovered. These tablets are the earliest written documents in Syria.

Palaces of the Semi-Desert

Rasafeh: It is located south of the Euphrates and north of the Syrian semi-desert, 160 kilometers south-east of Aleppo and 30 kilometers south of the Aleppo Raqqa road. Rasafeh palace was the residence of Hisham ibn Abdul Malik, the third Omayyad Caliph, whose age was golden one, due to his great interest in the arts and in architecture. He had several palaces built in various parts of Syria. He was in favor of simplicity and modesty; this is why he chose Rasafeh as his residence. There, he died and was buried. The palace was originally a church, built to commemorate a Roman officer (St. Sergius), who died in defense of Christianity in the 4^th century. In 616, the Persians, robbed and destroyed invaded the church. When Hisham ibn Abdul Malik became a caliph in the 8^th ce, he built two beautiful palaces on its site. Later, the Abbacies invaded and destroyed what the Caliph Hisham had built. Very little of the ruins of the Mar Sarkis church remain. Parts of the church have been used as a mosque; inscriptions in both Arabic and Greek, engraved on the walls, indicate that Christians and Muslims co-existed peacefully in Syria from the 13^th century onwards.

Qasr al-Hir al-Gharbi: 45 kilometers south-west of Tadmor (Palmyra), built by the Caliph Hisham ibn Abdul Malik in the 8^th century, this palis square and surrounded by a huge wall, at each corner of which there is a round tower. At each side of the main gate there are two half-rounded towers. It has a courtyard with columns with Corinthian crowns.

Qasr al-Hir al-Sharqi: the Caliph Hisham built this palace 110 kilometers northeast of Palmyra, in 628. It contains a palace-residence for the caliph and for the garrisons. There is a small mosque built in the style of the Omayyad mosque in Damascus, there is a Beth with hot, warm and cold running water. This is the oldest Omayyad bath. The palace is surrounded by a wide garden.