Citadel of Homs

Homs Castle
قلعة حمص
Homs, Syria
Romantic Illustration of Emesa by the great artist Louis-François Cassas
Homs Castle
قلعة حمص
Coordinates 34°43′26″N 36°42′52″E / 34.723807°N 36.714371°E / 34.723807; 36.714371
Type Castle
Site information
Condition Ruins

Homs Castle (Arabic: قلعة حمص‎) is located in Homs, Syria. The citadel was built on top of an ancient tell with remains dating back to the 3rd millennium BCE.[1]

History

Julia Domna, daughter of the high-priest Julius Bassianus, has contributed to improve the city of Emesa and its citadel during the Roman Syria era. At that time, the citadel was able to contain accommodation, warehouses and administrative buildings surrounded by semi-circular walls.

However, today the Citadel is in ruinous state as a result of massive demolition started by the Egyptian army of Ibrâhîm Pasha in the 1830s. This was followed by leveling and extensive new construction carried out when the site was used as a military base by the French army during the Mandate period and thereafter by the Syrian army.

The Citadel was only abandoned for military purposes in the late 1980s when it passed to the Directorate-General of Antiquities and Museums.[2]

Trivia

The citadel is locally known as "Citadel of Usama", named after Usama ibn Munqidh.[3]

See also

References

  1. ↑ King, Geoffrey (2002). "Archaeological fieldwork at the Citadel of Homs, Syria: 1995–1999". School of Oriental and African Studies. Retrieved 17 February 2009.
  2. ↑ Excavations at Homs Citadel
  3. ↑ "قلعة حمص الأثرية.. معلم تاريخي عريق". The New Alphabet (in Arabic). 23 December 2012. Retrieved 3 December 2017.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.