Qasr al-Hayr al-Sharqi
About the place
- Country : Syria , Homs
- Address : Qasr al-Hayr al-Sharqi, Syria
- Category : Palaces and Castles
- Establishing Date : 728 AD
- founder : Hisham bin Abdul Malik
Qasr al-Hayr al-Sharqi
Overview:
• Qasr al-Hayr al-Sharqi, in addition to Qasr al-Hayr al-Gharbi, whose construction were ordered by the Umayyad Caliph Hisham bin Abd al-Malik, are one of the most prominent Umayyad palaces built in the Syrian Desert.
• Qasr al-Hayr al-Sharqi is located in the middle of the Syrian desert, 105 km to the north-east of the city of Palmyra, and 60 km south of the city of Resafa, within an entire ancient city that was a resort for the caliphs in the Umayyad era.
Historic overview:
• The Umayyad Caliphs in Damascus (from the year 660 AD to the year 750 AD) built a series of great palaces and they called them the “Desert Castle” in the Syrian steppes at the borders of the desert far from the capital, so that they could enjoy the sport of hunting and horse breeding.
• Qasr al-Hayr al-Sharqi succeeded in preserving the original Umayyad characteristics and features, more than any other castle did, ensuring the continuity of Syrian cultural traditions (Byzantine and Sasanian art) despite the arrival of Islam.
• It is believed that the palace was built on the ruins of a monastery dating back to the Ghassanid dynasty. Qasr al-Hayr al-Sharqi and Qasr al-Hayr al-Gharbi were dated during the reign of "Hisham bin Abdul Malik" in 728 AD.
Architectural Description:
• The palace is a complete city consisting of two palaces. The large palaces take a square shape, with a side length of 170 meters and an area of 11,200 square meters.
• The outer walls of the palace were supported by semi-circular towers distributed at a rate of four towers in the corners, and six in each wall, except for the main facade, which is located to the south side of the palace, with two semi-circular towers in the middle, so that its final number reached twenty-six towers, each of which is four meters in diameter.
• The two palaces are separated by a square minaret ten meters high, with a southern entrance and a circular spiral staircase.
• The discovery of some of the repairs and construction works that were carried out in the tenth century AD “Abbasid period” confirmed the transformation of the palace and its surroundings into an integrated city, in which oil presses and glass factories were built, in addition to the mosque and residential houses and the mission of the place changed from a desert rest house for the "Umayyad Caliph" to turn into a city of an important commercial nature.
Resources:
esyria.sy website
discover-syria website
thawra website
