Syria Trails › Places

Al-Bara

البارة

The largest of the Dead Cities in Jabal al-Zawiya, with churches, monasteries and famous pyramid tombs; part of the Ancient Villages of Northern Syria.

In Jabal al-Zawiya, south of Idlib, among olive groves and limestone hills, lie the ruins of al-Bara, the largest of northern Syria's "Dead Cities". It was a prosperous Byzantine farming town, enriched by olives, vines and the trade in oil and wine in the 5th–6th centuries.

The site is full of multi-storey stone houses, olive presses, several churches and monasteries — a vivid picture of late antique rural life. Most famous are its pyramid tombs: square buildings roofed with stone pyramids and adorned with carved capitals and friezes, built for wealthy families.

The settlement was founded in the 4th century on an important trade route between Antioch and Apamea, and plentiful groundwater helped it flourish; its wealth is shown by fine stonework, industrial-scale olive presses and a number of decorated monumental tombs of the 6th century. It lies about 65 km north of Hama and 80 km south-west of Aleppo.

Unlike many Dead Cities, al-Bara stayed inhabited after the Islamic conquest and was taken by the Crusaders in the late 11th century, briefly serving as a bishopric. It is part of the Ancient Villages of Northern Syria World Heritage property (2011).

Note: photos may not reflect the site's current condition.

For the visitor

Photos

Photos: Vyacheslav Argenberg — via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY) · Frank Kidner — via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA)