45 km (28 miles) from Homs. Situated
on the River Orontes, Hama dates back to beyond 5000BC. The Nories,
gigantic wooden waterwheels,
are a unique feature still used to provide water
for the city and to irrigate the many public gardens. The orchards,
the great Mosque and the Al - Azem Palace's Museum are also of
interest
It was built in the fourth century
B.C by Seleucus Necator who named it after his wife, Afamia, many
famous personalities visited this city like Antonio and Cleopatra
and Hannibal. A philosophical school of modern Platonic approach
was established in it
The Romans rebuilt it so the Persian and Roman civilization were
wonderfully mingled in it. It was a commercial center where trade
caravans used to frequent. It was then destroyed by two severe
earthquakes
You can see a wall surrounding its beautiful ruins
such as high columns, old houses and big churches dating back
to the fifth and sixth centuries A.D in addition to a splendid
amphitheatre. Its museum has a lot of extra-ordinary mosaic panels.
Shaizar citadel, dating back to the 13th C. stands proudly over
the nearby hill.
Qaser Ibn Wardan is 57 Km from Hama,
and offers a spectular sight in a desert area of
a Byzantine city with impressing monuments built under the reign
of Emperor Justinian
At 25 Km from Hama , Qalaat Shiezar is an extraordinary
Arab fortress erected on a rocky ridge
