Bosra: Syria's City of Black Basalt and Its Roman Theatre Inside a Castle

On the Hauran plain south of Damascus stands a city made entirely of black stone. Its houses, columns and walls are cut from the volcanic basalt of the region, so that at sunset it looks carved out of the night. This is Bosra, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1980.

The theatre a castle saved

Bosra's marvel is its Roman theatre from the second century AD, one of the most complete Roman theatres anywhere, seating around fifteen thousand. The reason it survived is unusual: in the Middle Ages the Ayyubids built a citadel around it and turned it into a fortress, so its walls protected it from stone robbers and from time. You enter the castle first — and then suddenly find yourself at the top of the seating.

The old city

Bosra was a capital of the Nabataean kingdom in its north, then capital of the Roman province of Arabia. You will walk among:

• The colonnaded street and Roman arches.
• The baths and the remains of markets.
• The cathedral, among the largest churches of its time.
• The Omari Mosque and the Mabrak Mosque, among the oldest in Syria.

Bahira and the caravan

Bosra is tied to a story many know: that the Prophet Muhammad passed through as a boy with the caravan of his uncle Abu Talib, and that the monk Bahira saw in him the signs of prophethood. A place in the town is pointed out as the monk's.

Getting there

Bosra is about 140 km south of Damascus, near Daraa and Sweida. You can visit in a long day by car from Damascus, or combine it with Shahba and Qanawat in the Jabal al-Arab. Read about Philip the Arab, the emperor from Shahba.

UNESCO

Since 1980

Theatre

2nd century AD, about 15,000 seats

From Damascus

About 140 km

Stone

Black basalt