Syria

This Umayyad mosque was founded just 10 years after its more famous counterpart in Damascus. Recently restored to gleaming beauty, it is notable for its geometric courtyard paving and shrine of Zechar.

This ancient Roman city includes an exceptionally long Cardo Maximus (main street) and a variety of classical and Byzantine ruins.

Dura Europos (nicknamed the “Pompeii of the Syrian Desert.”) is an important archaeological site in eastern Syria on the Euphrates river.

This hillside town 20 miles north of Damascus is crowned by a 6th-century monastery dedicated to the Nativity of the Virgin Mary. It contains a miraculous icon painted by St.

Built in 1873, this church has two pointed towers and a high dome. The Maronites are Eastern Catholics in full communion with the Pope, with a liturgy in Syriac.

Now an isolated ruin, this 5th-century Byzantine church was dedicated to the famous St. Sergius, a Roman soldier martyred c.303. The church was a major pilgrimage site in the Byzantine era.

Ugarit is a Bronze Age city (c.1450-1200 BC) whose ruins lie on the Mediterranean coast of Syria. Excavations have revealed the world's first linear alphabet and information about Canaanite religion.

Qal'a Sim'an is home to the Church of St. Simeon, a well-preserved 5th-century church 60 km from Aleppo. It stands on the site of the pillar of St. Simeon Stylites, a famed hermit monk.

Located 50 km from Damascus, Maalula is the only place in the world that still speaks Aramaic, the language of Jesus.