World Heritage Identification Number: 1348
World Heritage since: 2011
Category: Cultural Heritage
Transboundary Heritage: No
Endangered Heritage: Yes
Country: 🇸🇾 Syrian Arab Republic
Continent: Asia
UNESCO World Region: Arab States
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The Ancient Villages of Northern Syria: A Testament to Rural Life in Late Antiquity and the Byzantine Period
The Ancient Villages of Northern Syria, inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2011, offer a unique glimpse into the lives of people living in rural areas during the Late Antique and Byzantine periods. This collection of around 40 villages, located in north-western Syria, provides a well-preserved landscape and architectural remains that serve as a testament to the ingenuity, culture, and religious evolution of these ancient societies.
More to come…UNESCO Description of the World Heritage Site
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.
Encyclopedia Record: Dead Cities
The Dead Cities or Forgotten Cities are a group of 700 abandoned settlements in northwest Syria between Aleppo and Idlib. Around 40 villages grouped in eight archaeological parks situated in north-western Syria provide an insight into rural life in Late Antiquity and during the Byzantine period. Most of the villages, which date from the 1st to 7th centuries, were abandoned between the 8th and 10th centuries. The settlements feature the well-preserved architectural remains of buildings such as dwellings, pagan temples, churches, cisterns and bathhouses. Important dead cities include the Church of Saint Simeon Stylites, Dahis, Serjilla, Ruweiha and al Bara.Additional Site Details
Area: 12,290 hectares
(iv) — Outstanding example of a type of building or landscape
(v) — Outstanding example of traditional human settlement
Coordinates: 36.3341666667 , 36.8441666667
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