Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
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Bosra has been around for quite some time. There are references to it as far back as the 14
th
Century BC and, in the 2
nd
Century BC, it became the first Nabatean city, with part of its
success due to being at the junction of several major trade routes.
Today Bosra is a small town built around ruins that date from Roman, Byzantine and Otto-
man times. The most dominant site is the well preserved 2
nd
Century Roman theatre. It is
a UNESCO World Heritage Site and is said to be the best-preserved Roman theatre in the
world. From where I stood, it was a major presence.
The largely intact theatre was converted into a fortified citadel, with its upper gallery in the
form of a covered portico. This was an extraordinary piece of architecture, the internal ramps
having the capacity to move substantial numbers of people in a relatively short time.
Walking the back streets you pass through extensive ruins of basalt stone. There were
paved alleyways and inner gardens glimpsed through gates and doorways. There were a few
hawkers and shopkeepers sitting around looking for business, but aside from a couple of
very insistence young men in the market square, they were not particularly pushy about pat-
ronising their respective establishments. It was if they had learn to live with a natural level
of business and had no interest in chasing diminishing returns compared with the level of
effort required.
One shopkeeper's sign announced 'Icimetieraisser Demonstration'. I think it had something
to do with weaving. There were a couple of horse and sulkies moving around, but these
seemed to be more a manifestation of local transport rather than for tourists.
The local water storage was completely dry and had received no water for some time. This
highlighted the water issue for many small towns throughout the country as it had in Jordan,
and it seems that Syria sought to cope with it in a similar way, with tanks on the roof and
access to water for only several hours a day.
Lunch was next to the market square under grape vines that provided welcome shade but
were festooned with clear plastic bags full of water hanging down over the table. It was
claimed they warded off the flies.
