Syrian Times 21 September, 2004 Al- Rastan was inhabited by man since the first stone ages. Seleucus Nicator, successor of Alexander the Great, called Al- Rastan “Aritosa†in 322 B.C. after his daughter.
When man left his cave dwellings he began to build stone houses in Al- Rastan. Some of these dwellings still stand as evidence of a rich civilization dating back to the Roman era.
Al- Rastan occupied a prominent religious place in the area, and many of the archbishops were representatives of its church in Constantinople.
Of Al- Rastan’s unearthed antiquities and finds are huge marble coffins bearing pictures of Greek mythology and a wonderful mosaic representing the citadel of Al- Rastan, the Orontes and nymphs.
The Moslem Arab leader Khaled Bin Al- Walid liberated the city when he put many men in wooden boxes and sent them to the city as goods. At night the men got out of the boxes and opened the gates of the city for the Moslem army. The Byzantines left behind them huge amounts of money. Al- Rastan was the battlefield of several big wars before and after Islam.
The caves, the wall, the white cell and the Roman aqueducts are among Al- Rastan’s archaeological sites. Al- Rastan is one of the most important and well known summer resorts in Syria. |