Überblick
Resafa is located in northern Syria, some 50 km southwest of Raqqa and 25 km from the Euphrates River. Its origins in Late Antiquity, the city covers an area of c. 400 m x 600 m that encompasses several importance churches and supply installations; it is enclosed by a wall, great sections of which are still well preserved. The surrounding countryside displays traces of settlements varying in density from Byzantine and Islamic times. In the southern part of the town is the residence of the Umayyad Caliph Hisham b. Abd al-Malik, which comprises several palace complexes extending over an area of c. 3 km².