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.
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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.
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