The baths
Halls and arches.
Frank Kidner — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Frank Kidner — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Frank Kidner — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Frank Kidner — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Frank Kidner — CC BY-SA 4.0
Shahba is a town in the Jabal al-Arab of southern Syria, about 87 km south of Damascus, with the remains of an almost complete Roman city at its centre. In ancient times it was called Philippopolis, after the Roman emperor Philip the Arab, who was born here. When Philip became emperor in 244, he set out to rebuild his small home village as a Roman city, said to be meant as a copy of Rome itself. It became the last Roman city founded in the East. Temples, a triumphal arch, baths, a theatre and a council house were built, all of the local black basalt. You walk streets paved in dark basalt and see the remains of the large baths with their halls and arches, a six-columned temple and the square council house with its broad steps. The town museum holds fine Roman mosaics. The black basalt gives the place a look unlike Syria's other ruins. Suwayda is about 17 km away in a straight line, and Damascus about 79 km. Some photos here predate the recent war years. The UK Foreign Office currently advises against all travel to Syria, and British consular help is not available there, so check official guidance before making any plans.
Halls and arches.
Square with broad steps.
In the museum.
Shahba, Jabal al-Arab, Suwayda Governorate, Syria
A Roman emperor born in Shahba who ruled from 244.
Ask locally about museum hours.