Stories & photography by destination:
Indian subcontinent: Pakistan ◦◦ India ◦◦Turkey ◦◦Bangladesh ◦◦ Bhutan ◦◦ Nepal ◦◦ Africa: Egypt ◦◦ Mauritania ◦◦ Morocco ◦◦ Algeria ◦◦ Togo ◦◦ Ghana ◦◦ Uganda◦◦ Rwanda◦◦ Europe: Bulgaria ◦◦ Czech Republic ◦◦ Faroe Islands ◦◦ Russia ◦◦ Iceland ◦◦ Greece ◦◦ Slovenia ◦◦ Ukraine ◦◦ Italy ◦◦ Far East and South-east Asia: Mongolia ◦◦ Hong Kong ◦◦ Japan ◦◦ Indonesia ◦◦ China ◦◦ Thailand ◦◦ Central Asia: Turkmenistan ◦◦ Kazakhstan ◦◦ Uzbekistan ◦◦ Middle East: Iran ◦◦ Syria ◦◦ Oman ◦◦ Jordan
Stories & photography by photography type: Photo stories ◦◦ Places ◦◦ Documentary ◦◦ Black and White ◦◦ Limited Edition Fine Art Prints ◦◦ Unlimited Edition Fine Art Prints ◦◦ Seascapes ◦◦ Urban ◦◦ Thousand Voyages Video Collection
- The story
- Purchasing Fine Art Unlimited Edition Prints, RM Licenses, and/or the Whole Publication
- Purchasing RM 4K video footage - Thousand Voyages Video Collection
The story
During my second guided tour of Syria in October 2023, we had an unexpected opportunity to visit the ancient Greek and Roman city of Apamea. Though not part of our original itinerary, the site's recent reopening allowed us to explore this remarkable destination.
Join us on our tour through Syria.
Apamea's fascinating history stretches back to the Stone Age, when the first settlement was known as "Pharnake." After Alexander the Great conquered the area, he renamed it Pella.
After Alexander's death and the division of his empire, Pella fell under the rule of Seleucus I, who renamed it Apamea after his Persian wife.
While Apamea's golden age began in the second century AD, it grew into a thriving city of 500,000 inhabitants. A devastating earthquake in 115 AD led to extensive reconstruction, transforming it from a Hellenistic city into a Roman one.
Join us on our tour through Syria.
The site's most remarkable feature is the Roman Great Colonnade—one of the longest in the Roman world—stretching nearly 2 km from the Antioch Gate in the north to the Homs Gate in the south. The Roman Theatre is equally impressive, with seating for over 20,000 people, making it one of the largest surviving Roman theaters.
Archaeologists identified Apamea as an ancient city in the mid-19th century. The first formal excavation began in 1928 when Franz Cumont secured Belgian support for regular archaeological missions. Under the leadership of Fernand Mayence and Henri Lacoste, these missions conducted seven campaigns before World War II, with two additional shorter seasons in 1947 and 1953.
Today, the Cinquantenaire Museum in Brussels houses an extensive collection of artifacts from Apamea, including important architectural pieces and artworks. This collection continues to preserve and showcase Apamea's rich cultural heritage.
During our visit to Apamea, we found ourselves completely alone—no tourists or other visitors in sight. This solitude offered a rare chance to appreciate the ancient city's beauty without distraction. Yet the emptiness also highlighted the sobering reality of the ongoing war. Destroyed villages surrounded us, and the road to the archaeological complex lay hauntingly vacant—a stark reminder that progress isn't always linear. Apamea, once a magnificent and thriving city, now stands silent among the ruins of conflict.
Join us on our tour through Syria.
Purchasing Fine Art Unlimited Edition Prints, RM Licenses, and/or the Whole Publication
All images in the publication and/or photo gallery are available for purchase as Fine Art Unlimited Edition Prints and/or licensed using Rights Managed Image Licensing. The publication may also be available for purchase as a single unit, including the text, photos, videos, or music (if available), as one complete publication that you can use on your website, in a magazine (print or online), or on other platforms.
Please check the corresponding sections for more information:
Fine Art Unlimited Edition Prints
Rights Managed Image Licensing
Purchasing a Story or Publication
Purchasing RM 4K video footage - Thousand Voyages Video Collection
All the videos on this page are part of the Thousand Voyages Video Collection and are offered as rights-managed 4K stock footage. You have the option to purchase entire clips, typically a few minutes in length, or individual parts of the clips as separate footage, ranging from 10 to 60 seconds.
If you are interested in making a purchase, please first read the Thousand Voyages Video Collection - FAQ and then send an email to me at pavel@thousandvoyages.com with the link to the page where you found the video clip, either on this website or on our Vimeo account page - https://vimeo.com/pavelgospodinov.
You can find all publications on this website that include embedded videos here.
☘️ Social Media: Instagram / Facebook / BlueSky / Vero;
☘️ Call us: +359 888 420 160 (WhatsApp/ Viber); +359 887 260 744 (WhatsApp/ Viber)