Homs, (ST)- The Ministry of Tourism has begun rehabilitation and restoration works on the historic building of the Visitor and Tourist Center in the archeological area of Palmyra in Homs countryside, which was damaged by the cowardly attacks of the terrorist organization "ISIS" before its defeat by the heroes of the Syrian Arab Army.

In a statement to SANA, director general of the Tourism Projects Implementation Authority at the Ministry of Tourism, Engineer Mohanna Skeiker, pointed out that this important tourist and archaeological project is part of the ministry’s plan to restore the glory of tourism in the historic city of Palmyra.

Among the rare and rich antiquities, which are found at the Classical Syrian Archaeology Department in the National Museum of Damascus, the statue of Princess Banyas, which dates back to the Roman era, is unique with its features that reflect the deep-rootedness and openness   of the Syrian civilization. 

 Archaeologists called  the bust , which is a bronze piece,   “Golan’s Princess” ,  and according to the researcher Dr. Ali Al-Qayyem, it represents the greatness and splendor of Syrian beauty and one of the most beautiful archaeological Syrian bronze sculptures of all times.

The statue was found during the last excavation process carried out by the Syrian archaeological expeditions in the Golan in 1965, before the Israeli occupation.  The statue was discovered in one of the orchards of the village of Banyas in the north of the occupied Syrian Golan, inside a sarcophagus.