Personal travel impressions in stories and pictures from Temple of Bel, Palmyra, Syria. Click on the pictures to enlarge, send as a free e-card, or download for personal use. You can locate Temple of Bel and navigate the world using Google Earth
Locate Temple of Bel on map
N 34° 32.850 E 38° 16.426
Book a budget room in one of the youth hostels in Syria
Order your free brochure with offers for travelling to Syria
Doura Europos
Mari
Syrian people
Serjilla
Apamea
Beehive houses
Bosra Amphitheatre
Omar Mosque
Krak des Chevaliers
Norias
Maloula
Aleppo Citadel
Aleppo
Saint Simeon
Omayyad Mosque
Damascus' old city
Palmyra
Tombs of Palmyra
Visited: June 2001
These pictures have been tagged with the following tags (clicking on the tag will take you to all pictures on this site with that tag)
Search pages at Traveladventures.org
You can travel the world using images - select your preferred language below:
If you want to be updated regularly about new stories and pictures:
Click your way around Syria with pictures (needs Google Earth software)
Explore Syria and the world through flags, maps, money, and images; compare Syria to any other and test your knowledge at Visual Geography Syria
It is possible to advertise on this travel site. Travel advertisers, ask for more information!
Will the current economic crisis affect your travel plans?
View Results If you have any travel related question which you would like to ask our public, please write to us!
Nearly 2000 years old, and constructed on a place where much older remains have been discovered, the Temple of Bel is an important example of the magnitude of ancient Palmyra. Named after "Bol", the supreme God the like of Greek Zeus or Roman Jupiter, the name Bel was assumed after Babylonian usage. The temple has survived centuries of siege, earthquakes and the erosion of time.
The temple is found in the middle of a larger courtyard. An impressive number of columns are still standing, or have been erected by reconstruction works in recent times. Many columns are finely decorated at their top. But a lot of fallen parts of columns lie everywhere. I felt admiration for those workers working under the scorching sun on further reconstruction of the complex.
The temple itself can only be entered through a beautifully decorated entrance gate. On the right hand side, two pieces of cross-beams are on display. On them, various figures depicting processions, gods, and other scenes can be seen. It is also possibile to look under the large stones, where even better preserved scenes can be seen. The temple itself is small but the ceiling must have been very high. It is here that you can find some shadow and let your fantasy go about the holiest temple of Palmyra.
