Serjilla (Arabic: سيرجيلة‎) is one of the best preserved of the Dead Cities in northwestern Syria. It is located in the Jebel Riha, approx. 65 km north from Hama and approx. 80 km southwest from Aleppo, very close to ruins of another "dead city" of Bara. The settlement arose in a natural basin and prospered from cultivating of grapes and olives. A bath complex indicates the wealth of the community. Unusually, it was built in 473, already during the time of Christianity. In 1899 an archeological team from the Princeton University discovered a large mosaic on the main hall floor but it had disappeared when the team returned six years later. Traces of now destroyed murals were found on the walls as well. Next to the baths stands an andron, a meeting place for men. Further east there was a small church but not much remains of it. Among ruins of numerous residential houses it is worth to mention a two storey villa which still stands today. In two lower rooms one can still see an arch which would have supported the ceiling. This feature was typical in the Dead Cities. Behind the villa there is a sunken building with an olive press.

Like most other of the "Dead Cities", Serjilla was abandoned in the seventh century when the Arabs conquered the region and discontinued merchant routes between Antioch and Apamea.

2010-07-02_5357
2010-07-02_5359
2010-07-02_5365
2010-07-02_5367
2010-07-02_5378
2010-07-02_5382
2010-07-02_5384
2010-07-02_5404
2010-07-02_5408
2010-07-02_5411
2010-07-02_5415
2010-07-02_5420
2010-07-02_5425
2010-07-02_5430
2010-07-02_5434
2010-07-02_5439
2010-07-02_5452
2010-07-02_5454
2010-07-02_5463
2010-07-02_5466
2010-07-02_5467
2010-07-02_5475
2010-07-02_5502
2010-07-02_5509
2010-07-02_5519
2010-07-02_5538
2010-07-02_5540
2010-07-02_5561
2010-07-02_5565
2010-07-02_5568
2010-07-02_5574
2010-07-02_5576
2010-07-02_5580
2010-07-02_5584
2010-07-02_5608
2010-07-02_5613
2010-07-02_5619
2010-07-02_5624
2010-07-02_5633
2010-07-02_5645
2010-07-02_5651
2010-07-02_5656
2010-07-02_5661
2010-07-02_5665

  • 1
View Slideshow

Rating 5.0 (1 vote)