Good practice destination Ancient Villages of Northern Syria

Contributor dienuz
Country Syria
Keywords
  • EXCELLENCE
  • UNESCO
Postal address Syria
Webpage http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1348
Release date 30/03/2018
Landscape type Unspecified
Topics
Marketplace category Certified Green: Attractions Certified Green: Attractions
Type Best Practice Destination (Best Practice Destination)
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Some 40 villages grouped in eight parks situated in north-western Syria provide remarkable testimony to rural life in late Antiquity and during the Byzantine period. Abandoned in the 8th to 10th centuries, the villages, which date from the 1st to 7th centuries, feature a remarkably well preserved landscape and the architectural remains of dwellings, pagan temples, churches, cisterns, bathhouses etc. The relict cultural landscape of the villages also constitutes an important illustration of the transition from the ancient pagan world of the Roman Empire to Byzantine Christianity. Vestiges illustrating hydraulic techniques, protective walls and Roman agricultural plot plans furthermore offer testimony to the inhabitants' mastery of agricultural production.