Syria Tour Guide: Bosra Last updated on
Monday 26th April 2010
Situated about 40km east of Der'a, Bosra is famous for its impressive and beautiful Roman theatre. It is an unusual structure in that it has a fortress built around it, probably constructed during the Umayyad and Abbasid periods. It is this fortress which has defended and preserved the theatre, thus accounting for its excellent state of repair today. The theatre seated 15,000 people and, unlike other Roman theatres, which were built into a hillside, this building is free-standing.
Other Roman sites include the baths, monumental gates and some fine Corinthian columns.
The rest of the town is built of black basalt blocks, often over and around old Roman buildings. It once stood at a crossroads of major trade and Muslim pilgrim routes, but is now little used and seldom visited. Bosra is still inhabited, but a new government programme is committed to relocation of the population to newer housing outside the old city walls.
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