All mighty empires are falling apart, ancient capitals are turning into abandoned villages, and small settlements are becoming new centers of civilization and supermodern megacities. The Syrian Bosra is a vivid confirmation of this.
The mid-sized town, located 140 km from Damascus, has experienced several periods of dazzling take-off, but today it is just an ordinary center of the small province of Gauran. True, the presence of a unique amphitheater and a number of antiquity sites allowed Bosra to be included not only in the list of attractive tourist destinations, but also in the UNESCO World Heritage List.
This ancient city impresses with its atmosphere. The fact is that black basalt was used for the construction of walls and structures. Dark walls give Bosra a dark and mysterious atmosphere.
Unfortunately, the ongoing military conflicts scare away most lovers of antiquities.
Bosra is mentioned in the documents of the pharaohs Akhenaton and Thutmose III, the biblical legends of the prophet Jeremiah.
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The first book of Maccabees, quote:
Therefore, Judas with his army suddenly directed his way into the wilderness to Vosor and took this city, and beat the whole male floor with the edge of the sword, and took all their spoils, and burned it with fire;
The fantastic flourishing of the city took place during the time of the ruler of the Nabataean state, Busra, making it actually the second capital of the kingdom. Despite numerous alterations and new buildings, here you can still find remnants of the cultural heritage of the times of Rabbel II Soter - the last ruler of Nabatea, who tried to resist the brilliant Rome.
During the Roman period Bosra did not die out, the new owners made it the center of the Arabia province of Petra and the seat of the Cyrenaica legion. Further, the city was owned by the Byzantines, the Persian dynasty of the Sassanids, the Muslim caliphate. Cultural deposits are located next to each other or are located on top of each other.
In the western districts of the Old City, there are ruins of the most ancient buildings, erected by the Arameans and Canaans. The main wide street is closed at both ends by the Nabataean and Western gates. From the Christian period, the ruins of the temple of Saints Sergius, Bacchus and Leontius (513 g) have been preserved.
The main attraction of the historical Bosra is the antique amphitheater with incredible acoustics and dimensions of 45x8 m, which received up to 15,000 visitors.
The Arab rulers decided to use it at their own discretion, turning it into a rather powerful fortress for its time. The building was surrounded by walls, the passageways were blocked with stones.
In the XI-XIII centuries, after the reconstruction, the amphitheater acquired 12 towers and a roof that covered the stage and spectator seats. In addition to the fortress-theater in Bosra, Corinthian columns, Roman baths, ancient mosques of Omar, Al-Mabrak, Al-Khidr are well preserved.