Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
The “Dead Cities” of Sergilla and Al Bara
The “Dead Cities” were so named due to their abandonment as a combined result of the
plague, changing power structures and abandoned trade routes. They were Roman and Byz-
antine settlements; numbering up to 700 in various locations and collectively inhabited by
large numbers of people. Although many sites still lie under the accumulation of nature's
reclamation, some settlements have been excavated or stand tall and they are impressive
examples of Byzantine architecture and their former prosperity.
We had lunch in the area of the “Dead Cities” in a rough-and-ready Kurdish restaurant. Al-
though I didn't note the content or flavours of the meal, I did note its effect; it burned every
part it made contact with during and well after the meal.
It had been a busy day, and we had spent a lot of time in the summer sun, and as we drove
past towns and people in the pictures below, we drifted in and out of drowsiness to the
calming songs of Nat King Cole.
Meanwhile, and it seems strange now as I think about it, while we were listening to
Ahmed's favourite Nat King Cole cassette; “Mona Lisa, “Love letters from Your Heart”
and “Smile” the bombs were going off in the buses and underground trains in London.
