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Bara or al-Bara () is one of the former "
Dead Cities The Dead Cities () or Forgotten Cities () are a group of 700 abandoned settlements in northwest Syria between Aleppo and Idlib. Around 40 villages grouped in eight archaeological parks situated in north-western Syria provide an insight into rura ...
" in northwestern
Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...
. It is located in the Zawiya Mountain approximately north from
Hama Hama ( ', ) is a city on the banks of the Orontes River in west-central Syria. It is located north of Damascus and north of Homs. It is the provincial capital of the Hama Governorate. With a population of 996,000 (2023 census), Hama is one o ...
and approx. 80 km southwest from
Aleppo Aleppo is a city in Syria, which serves as the capital of the Aleppo Governorate, the most populous Governorates of Syria, governorate of Syria. With an estimated population of 2,098,000 residents it is Syria's largest city by urban area, and ...
. Al-Bara is also a town in Ariha district. According to the Syria Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), al-Bara had a population of 10,353 in the 2004 census. Its population is mostly
Sunni Muslim Sunni Islam is the largest branch of Islam and the largest religious denomination in the world. It holds that Muhammad did not appoint any successor and that his closest companion Abu Bakr () rightfully succeeded him as the caliph of the Musli ...
.General Census of Population and Housing 2004
. Syria Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS). Idlib Governorate.


History

The settlement was established in the fourth century at an important trade route between
Antioch Antioch on the Orontes (; , ) "Antioch on Daphne"; or "Antioch the Great"; ; ; ; ; ; ; . was a Hellenistic Greek city founded by Seleucus I Nicator in 300 BC. One of the most important Greek cities of the Hellenistic period, it served as ...
and Apamea. Due to good location and excellent conditions to produce wine and
olive oil Olive oil is a vegetable oil obtained by pressing whole olives (the fruit of ''Olea europaea'', a traditional Tree fruit, tree crop of the Mediterranean Basin) and extracting the oil. It is commonly used in cooking for frying foods, as a cond ...
, it flourished in the 5th and 6th centuries; this was aided by the plentiful underground water in the area. Agricultural development accelerated from the 5th century, with peasants digging to access underground springs rather than relying on waterfalls, the appearance of a network of wells and canals across the region, the cutting of private reservoirs in courtyards to collect rainwater, and the digging of large communal reservoirs. The site’s affluence is demonstrated by well-decorated stonework, industrial-scale olive presses and a small number of decorated monumental tombs from the 6th century. The settlement is one of the only mountain sites of the Dead Cities with more than a dozen hearths. A series of ruined monasteries are close to the southern edge of the site, with Deir Sobat in good condition and Deir Debbane and al-Deir in a poorer state of repair. Church E5, in the centre of the complex, is particularly richly decorated, with the church layout and mosaic representations similar to those of nearby Apamea. At the height of the
Byzantine Empire The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived History of the Roman Empire, the events that caused the ...
’s power, the emperors increased their control over sites like Bara, strategically positioned to both protect mountain access and survey the more contested plains to the east. When Muslims conquered the region and trading routes were disrupted and other Dead Cities were abandoned, Bara remained inhabited, most inhabitants remained Christians, and the town even became a seat of a bishopric subordinate of Antioch under Peter of Narbonne. The centre of the town was excavated in 2007-2010, revealing a large mosque identified thanks to its fully preserved ''
mihrab ''Mihrab'' (, ', pl. ') is a niche in the wall of a mosque that indicates the ''qibla'', the direction of the Kaaba in Mecca towards which Muslims should face when praying. The wall in which a ''mihrab'' appears is thus the "''qibla'' wall". ...
''. The excavation also uncovered a bath complex which had undergone four distinct phases of occupation: the construction of late Roman thermal baths, the conversion to ''
hammam A hammam (), also often called a Turkish bath by Westerners, is a type of steam bath or a place of public bathing associated with the Islamic world. It is a prominent feature in the culture of the Muslim world and was inherited from the model ...
s'' during the early Islamic period, their abandonment during the 11th century, and their conversion to housing during the Mamluk period. In 1098, Al-Bara was conquered by
crusaders The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and at times directed by the Papacy during the Middle Ages. The most prominent of these were the campaigns to the Holy Land aimed at reclaiming Jerusalem and its surrounding ...
(from there they later set off to the infamous cannibalistic massacre of Ma`arat al-Numan) led by Raymond de Saint-Gilles. The town was taken by Ridwan in 1104 and retaken by Tancred a year later. However, it was retaken by Muslims from 1119 to 1122. In 1123, the town was reconquered by Belek Ghazi who built a small
fortress A fortification (also called a fort, fortress, fastness, or stronghold) is a military construction designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from L ...
. By 1130, it was retaken by the crusaders of Antioch until it was finally controlled by Nur ad-Din in 1148. The mainly Christian population of Al-Bara was subsequently expelled. Later in the 12th century, after a severe earthquake, the town was abandoned. Later, in the beginning of the 20th century, a modern village of the same name arose near the site of the ancient town and till today it has grown to the size of a small town. Al-Bara's ruins are the most extensive of all Dead Cities and are scattered among fields,
olive The olive, botanical name ''Olea europaea'' ("European olive"), is a species of Subtropics, subtropical evergreen tree in the Family (biology), family Oleaceae. Originating in Anatolia, Asia Minor, it is abundant throughout the Mediterranean ...
groves and orchards. Due to its long continuous inhabitation, the ruins are also some of the most varied of the Dead Cities. Among many others, one can distinguish remains of at least five churches, three
monasteries A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone ( hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer which m ...
, several
villa A villa is a type of house that was originally an ancient Roman upper class country house that provided an escape from urban life. Since its origins in the Roman villa, the idea and function of a villa have evolved considerably. After the f ...
s, two
pyramid A pyramid () is a structure whose visible surfaces are triangular in broad outline and converge toward the top, making the appearance roughly a pyramid in the geometric sense. The base of a pyramid can be of any polygon shape, such as trian ...
al tombs and one underground tomb. On 27 November 2024, HTS rebels captured the city from the Syrian Army.


Gallery

File:Bara, Syria - 5163930898.jpg, Pyramidal tomb in Bara File:Al-Bara Tomb interior (48701360).jpg, Byzantine sarcophagi in a pyramidal tomb in Bara


References


External links

*
Simeon Citadel and Dead Cities
Suggestion to have al-Bara recognized as a UNESCO world heritage site, in 2006, as part of "Simeon Citadel and Dead Cities"-project.




Tens of pictures of this dead city

Manar al-Athar photo archive
{{Idlib Governorate , Ariha Archaeological sites in Idlib Governorate Former populated places in Syria Dead Cities Populated places in Ariha District