The Mosque of Idlib Sermin is a mosque located in Syria. It was damaged during the Syrian civil war. [1]
The Citadel of Aleppo is a large medieval fortified palace in the centre of the old city of Aleppo, northern Syria. It is considered to be one of the oldest and largest castles in the world. Usage of the Citadel hill dates back at least to the middle of the 3rd millennium BC. Occupied by many civilizations over time – including the Armenians, Greeks, Byzantines, Ayyubids, Mamluks and Ottomans – the majority of the construction as it stands today is thought to originate from the Ayyubid period. An extensive conservation work took place in the 2000s by the Aga Khan Trust for Culture, in collaboration with Aleppo Archeological Society. Dominating the city, the Citadel is part of the Ancient City of Aleppo, an UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1986. During the 2010s, the Citadel received significant damage during the lengthy Battle of Aleppo. It was reopened to the public in early 2018 with repairs to damaged parts underway. The citadel was damaged by the 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquake.
Qasr al-Hayr al-Sharqi is a castle (qasr) in the middle of the Syrian Desert. It was built by the Umayyad caliph Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik in 728-29 CE in an area rich in desert fauna. It was apparently used as a military and hunting outpost. The palace is the counterpart of Qasr al-Hayr al-Gharbi, a nearby castle palace built one year earlier. It is one of the so-called desert castles.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to Syria:
Sarmin is a town in northwestern Syria, administratively part of the Idlib Governorate, located 15 kilometers southeast of Idlib. It has an altitude of about 390 meters. Nearby localities include Binnish to the north, Talhiyah to the northeast, Afs to the east, Saraqib to the southeast, al-Nayrab to the south and Qminas to southwest. The Taftanaz Military Airbase is located 9 kilometers (5.6 mi) to the northeast.
The Great Mosque of Aleppo is the largest and one of the oldest mosques in the city of Aleppo, Syria. It is located in al-Jalloum district of the Ancient City of Aleppo, a World Heritage Site, near the entrance to Al-Madina Souq. The mosque is purportedly home to the remains of Zechariah, the father of John the Baptist, both of whom are revered in Islam and Christianity. It was built in the beginning of the 8th century CE. However, the current building dates back to the 11th through 14th centuries. The minaret in the mosque was built in 1090, and was destroyed during fighting in the Syrian Civil War in April 2013.
The Al-Omari Mosque is an early Islamic-era mosque in the Roman city of Bosra, Syria. It was founded by Caliph Umar, who led the Muslim conquest of Syria in 636 CE, and it was completed in the early 8th century by Caliph Yazid II. The mosque was renovated in the 12th and 13th century CE by the Ayyubid dynasties.
The Ancient City of Damascus is the historic city centre of Damascus, Syria. The old city which is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, contains numerous archaeological sites, including some historical churches and mosques. Many cultures have left their mark, especially Hellenistic, Roman, Byzantine and Islamic. In 1979, the historical center of the city, surrounded by walls of Roman era, was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. In June 2013, UNESCO included all Syrian sites on the list of World Heritage in Danger to warn of the risks to which they are exposed because of the Syrian Civil War.
Al-Hirak is a small city in southern Syria, administratively belonging to the Izra' District of the Daraa Governorate. It is situated about 40 kilometers northeast of Daraa, and is surrounded by the towns of Maliha al-Gharbiyah to the east and Izra' to the northeast. According to the 2004 census by the Central Bureau of Statistics, al-Hirak had a population of 20,760. Its inhabitants are predominantly Muslims. It was inhabited by families most of whom came from the Hijaz in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries and settled there, such as Al-Zamil, Al-Salamat and Abu Salem, and all of whom belong to the Onaizah tribe spread in the Arabian Peninsula and Syria. Among its most important features is the ancient mosque, once a Christian monastery and before that a pagan temple for the worship of Baal, the sun god.
Syrian Archaeological Heritage Under Threat, also known as Syrian Archaeological Heritage in Danger, Patrimoine Syrien or Le patrimoine archéologique syrien en danger is a cultural heritage activist group that runs a Facebook page documenting the damage to Syrian and World Heritage during the Syrian Civil War.
Saqba is a town in southern Syria, administratively part of the Markaz Rif Dimashq District of the Rif Dimashq Governorate, 7 km east of central Damascus. Nearby localities include Jisrin to the southeast, Kafr Batna to the southwest, Hizzah to the southwest and Hamouriyah and Beit Sawa to the north. According to the Syria Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), Saqba had a population of 25,696 in the 2004 census.
Al-Hatab Square is one of the oldest squares in the Syrian city of Aleppo. It is located in the old Jdeydeh Quarter, outside the historic walls of the Ancient City of Aleppo. The square suffered catastrophic damage during the Syrian civil war.
The Brigade of Abu al-Fadl al-Abbas, also known as the al-Abbas Brigade, is a pro-government Twelver Shia Muslim militant group operating throughout Syria. It is named after the nickname of Al-Abbas ibn Ali, son of Imam Ali.
Al-Salam Mosque is a mosque located in the Qarabis neighborhood of Homs, Syria. It was designed by architect Shawki Tawokkol and construction was completed in 1980, partially with the support of local volunteers. The Karabyss Muslim Community administers the mosque.
The June 2013 Sidon clash in June 2013 was part of the Syrian civil war spillover in Lebanon, and involved the Lebanese Army and Sunni militants in the city of Sidon, Lebanon. Clashes between the followers of militant preacher Ahmed al-Assir resulted in the deaths of 18 soldiers, 25–40 al-Assir gunmen, two civilians, and according to some sources, four Hezbollah fighters. The clashes were the deadliest since the Syria-related internal conflict in Lebanon began in 2011.
The Master of Martyrs Battalions, or Kata'ib Sayyid al-Shuhada' (KSS) is an Iraqi Shia militia formed in 2013. Its stated mission is to protect "(Shia) shrines across the globe", preserve "Iraqi unity" and to "put an end to the sectarian conflict".
Deliberate destruction and theft of cultural heritage has been conducted by the Islamic State since 2014 in Iraq, Syria, and to a lesser extent in Libya. The destruction targets various places of worship under ISIL control and ancient historical artifacts. In Iraq, between the fall of Mosul in June 2014 and February 2015, IS had plundered and destroyed at least 28 historical religious buildings. Valuable items from some buildings were looted in order to smuggle and sell them to foreigners to finance the running of the Islamic State.
Although Syria has some of the oldest cities in Western Asia, such as Damascus and Aleppo, tourism in Syria has greatly reduced as a result of the Syrian War, that began in 2011 and is ongoing, and its associated refugee crisis. Tourism has been further impacted by the outbreak of COVID-19 starting in March 2020. The international economic sanctions imposed on Syria and the sharp drop in the value of the Syrian pound also adversely impact tourism in Syria. The Ministry of Tourism is the responsible government department.
The architectural heritage of the Kosovo Albanians during Yugoslav rule was shown institutionalised disregard for decades prior to outright conflict at the end of the 20th century. Numerous Albanian cultural sites in Kosovo were destroyed during the period of Yugoslav rule and especially the Kosovo conflict (1998-1999) which constituted a war crime violating the Hague and Geneva Conventions. In all, 225 out of 600 mosques in Kosovo were damaged, vandalised, or destroyed alongside other Islamic architecture during the conflict. Additionally 500 Albanian owned kulla dwellings and three out of four well-preserved Ottoman period urban centres located in Kosovo cities were badly damaged resulting in great loss of traditional architecture. Kosovo's public libraries, of which 65 out of 183 were completely destroyed, amounted to a loss of 900,588 volumes, while Islamic libraries sustained damage or destruction resulting in the loss of rare books, manuscripts and other collections of literature. Archives belonging to the Islamic Community of Kosovo, records spanning 500 years, were also destroyed. During the war, Islamic architectural heritage posed for Yugoslav Serb paramilitary and military forces as Albanian patrimony with destruction of non-Serbian architectural heritage being a methodical and planned component of ethnic cleansing in Kosovo.
