There’s no entry fee and no opening hours for the ruins, although three sites (the Temple of Bel, the Theatre and Elahbel, one of the funerary towers)do have set hours and require you to pay. Allow at least a day to explore the ruins, possibly with a break in the heat of the day and with a sunset trip up to Qala’at ibn Maan. Although Palmyra is Syria’s single-most popular attraction and tour groups spill from buses and into the ruins at regular intervals, the site is large enough to find a quiet corner and imagine you have the place to yourself. If you can do this at sunrise or sunset, when the columns and temple walls turn golden or rose pink, this is when you’ll really understand the magic of Palmyra.
Temple of Bel
(adult/student S£150/10; h9am-6pm Apr-Sep, 8am-4pm Oct-Mar) Bel was the most important of the gods in the Palmyrene pantheon, and the Temple of Bel is the most complete structure left in Palmyra. Once inside, you’ll see that the complex consists of two parts: a huge walled temenos (courtyard), and at its centre, the cella (the temple proper), which dates from AD 32.
Just to the left of the entrance into the temenos is a sunken passage that enters the temple from the outside wall and gradually slopes up to the level of the courtyard. This was probably used to bring sacrificial animals to the precincts. The podium of the sacrificial altar is on the left, and beside it are the foundations of a banqueting hall. Inside the cella is a single chamber with adytons (large niches) at either end. To see how the temple once stood, visit room two of the Palmyra Museum.
The earth-coloured building by the Temple of Bel was originally the residence of the Ottoman governor of Palmyra. It later became a prison, and at the time of research was going to open as a visitors centre.
Monumental Arch
Formerly connected to the temple by a colonnade, the monumental arch across the road now serves as the entrance to the site proper, and it’s one of the most evocative sites in Palmyra. The arch is interesting as it’s actually two arches joined like a hinge to pivot the main street through a 30-degree turn. This slight direction switch, and a second one just a little further west, are evidence of the city’s unique development – a crooked street like this would be quite unimaginable in any standard Roman city.
The section west of the arch is magnificent. This section lies at the heart of the ancient civic centre; it has been heavily restored and gives a very clear idea of how the city must have appeared in all its original splendour. The street itself was never paved, probably to save damage from camel caravans, but flanking porticoes on either side were. Each of the massive columns has a small, jutting platform about two-thirds of the way up, designed to hold the statue of some rich Palmyrene who had helped pay for the construction of the street.
Theatre
South of the main colonnaded street is the city’s theatre , which was buried by sand until the 1950s. Since its discovery it has been extensively restored.
Tetrapylon
About one-third of the way along the colonnaded street is the beautiful, reconstructed tetrapylon, a monumental structure that marked a junction of thoroughfares and marks the second pivot in the route of the colonnaded street. Its square platform bears at each corner a tight grouping of four columns. Each of the four groups of pillars supports 150,000kg of solid cornice. A pedestal at the centre of each quartet originally carried a statue. Only one of the 16 pillars is of the original pink granite (probably brought from Aswan in Egypt).
Agora
The agora was the hub of Palmyrene life, the city’s most important meeting space, used for public discussion and as a market where caravans unloaded their wares and engaged in the trade that brought the desert oasis its wealth. What remains today is a clearly defined courtyard measuring 84m by 71m. The central area was once enclosed by porticoes on all four sides and the pillars carried statues. Adjoining the agora in the northwest corner are the remains of a small banqueting hall used by Palmyra’s rulers.
Temple of Baal Shamin
After the detour to the agora, the main street continues northwest, and another smaller pillared street leads northeast to the Temple of Baal Shamin, a small shrine dedicated to the god of storms and fertilising rains.
Beyond the tetrapylon, the main street continues for another 500m. This stretch is littered with tumbled columns and assorted blocks of masonry and the views up towards Qala’at ibn Maan are quite lovely as the sun nears the horizon. The road ends in the impressive portico of a 3rd-century funerary temple .
Camp of Diocletian
South of the funerary temple, along the porticoed way, is the Camp of Diocletian, erected after the destruction of the city by Aurelian. It was possibly on the site of what had been the palace of Zenobia, although excavations so far have been unable to prove this. The camp lay near the Damascus Gate, which led on to a 2nd-century colonnaded street that supposedly linked Emesa (Homs) and the Euphrates.
Towers
To the south, at the foot of some low hills, is a series of tall, freestanding square-based towers known as the Towers of Yemliko . These were constructed as multistorey burial chambers, stacked with coffins posted in pigeonhole-like niches. The niches were sealed with stone panels carved with a head-and-shoulder portrait of the deceased; you can see many of these in the special displays at the National Museum in Damascus.
It’s possible to visit one of these towers, Elahbel , on a tour organised by the Palmyra Museum. Tours leave from the museum at 8.30am, 10am, 11.30am and 4.30pm (no 11.30am tour on Fridays, no 4.30pm tour October to March) and include a visit to the impressive Hypogeum of the Three Brothers , an underground burial chamber with beautiful frescos.
