Culture Minister visits historic citadels in Homs and Lattakia

Culture Minister Isam Khalil accompanied by the Director General of the DGAM visited al-Hosn citadel in Homs province and Salaheddin citadel in Lattakia province over the past two days.

They were briefed on the current situation in the two historical sites that had sustained repeated attacks by terrorist groups before the Syrian army restored stability and peace to them, according to the Directorate-General of the Antiquities and Museums website. 

In this context, the official news agency (SANA) reported that Culture Minister underlined the need to complete the rehabilitation of al-Hosn Citadel and the surrounding area as soon as possible to reactivate cultural activities there.

He also asked for preparing a comprehensive study to rehabilitate Salaheddin citadel to receive visitors within two months. 

On her part, the al-Hosn Citadel’s Director Naema Mhatram described the damages caused by terror attacks as ‘slight’ that did not affect the structure of the citadel.

Al-Hosn citadel is locate 60 km far away from Homs city and it is one of the military fortifications of the second millennium B.C.It was listed by the UNESCO as a world heritage site in 2006.

In the same year (2006), Salaheddin citadel was listed by the UNESCO as a world heritage site. But it was placed on the UNESCO’s World Heritage in danger list in 2013.

BasmaQaddour