Grand Tour of Syria

Our Syria arrangements have been made for many years by a gentleman who is also an architect and heavily involved in the preservation of Syria’s heritage, with special reference to his home town of Aleppo. The Royal Geographical Society invited him in 2009 to give a talk on ‘Old Aleppo - A Resurrected Gem of a City’, sponsored by the British Syrian Society. Old Aleppo, a jewel of the Silk Road, was falling into decay due to harmful planning and neglect when he mounted a successful drive with fellow conservationists to declare the whole of the historic fabric of 10,000 traditional courtyard houses a historic monument and list the Old City as a UNESCO World Heritage site. He implemented the conservation of three castles, including Salah ad-Din, and in 2007 founded the ‘Aleppo Citadel Friends’.

In the long-running competition between two of the world’s ‘Oldest Living Cities’, both he and his guides generally favour the better-preserved Aleppo over the more famous Damascus, creating much animated debate. Indeed, for several years now, our guests have asked for a longer stay in Aleppo and Damascus. This arrangement goes beyond the classic UNESCO World Heritage sites of Damascus, Aleppo, Palmyra, Bosra and Crac des Chevaliers, all well covered in the itinerary. Al-Bara, one of the well-preserved Dead Cities, abruptly abandoned in the 6th century, was described by Gertrude Bell (archaeologist and spy) as “It is like a dream city which children create for themselves to dwell in…and no words can give the charm of it”.

East of the main tourist routes, the Euphrates River forms the western border of ancient Mesopotamia. The caravan city of Resafe is a walled Byzantine fortification, a remarkable structure in the desert, known as Sergiopolis. In Ugarit the first alphabet was found and in Maaloula locals still speak Aramaic, the language of Christ.

VJV Special Event - Dining in the Old Town
In both Damascus and Aleppo we have arranged special dinners with music in traditional houses which are now restaurants (with one ‘Whirling Dervish’ performance).