City of Raqqa   The Euphrates At-Thawra Rasafeh Raqqa Deir Ezzor Doura Europos Mari   At about 188 km from Aleppo (105 km from Deir-Ezzor), a road crosses the Euphrates to the left and leads to Raqqa (6 km away), one of those cities that, after an impressive flow of rural immigrants, has known such a vigorous growth that it looks today rather like an immense village. It can claim a long past since it was founded in the 4th century B.C. by Alexander the Great and was later selected by Haroun Ar-Rasheed as a summer residence. It was built in 772 by the Caliph AI-Mansour on the same plan as the round city of Baghdad. You will see the Baghdad gate, a monumental brick construction of the Abbasside period opened in a wall still partly preserved, and 2.5 km from there the ruins of a palace of the early 9th century. Nothing remains of the Abbasside Great Mosque, as it was totally destroyed, then reconstructed: its minaret was raised again by Noureddin in 1166. The Department of Antiques has recently devoted great interest to this very old town. Excavations were performed on sites of numerous extra mural palaces, in particular at Hiraqla, 10 km from Raqqa, where a 9th century residence, formerly richly decorated, is now under restoration. Working on all these palaces, archeologists have found numerous artifacts, in particular glass objects and a superb ceramic with glossy decoration and earthen ware. You may admire them in the museum newly created at Raqqa to house all these marvels.
© UR Travel 2006