Homs travel guide

Background

Although there is evidence of settlement as early as the first millennium BC, Homs only rose to prominence during the Roman period under the Latin name Emesa, when it emerged as an important regional centre. It owed much of its wealth to its close trading ties with Palmyra to the east, a fact attested to by the numerous references to Emesa in Palmyrene documents.

More importantly, it also found itself close to the centre of Roman political life following the marriage of the future Emperor of Rome, Septimius Severus, to Julia Domna, a daughter of the High Priest of Emesa in AD 187. Julia Domna played a central role during the reign of her husband (AD 193-211) and following his death she managed to ensure that her sons, Caracalla and Geta, jointly inherited the position of Emperor. Continued Syrian ascendency in Rome was ensured, but this period was marked also by a rapid decline into degeneracy. In AD 212 Caracalla murdered his brother Geta and took the title of Emperor for himself, embarking on a reign of terror which saw tens of thousands murdered. Following Caracalla’s own murder in AD 217, Elagabalus, the grandson of Julia Domna’s sister, Julia Maesa, rose to power. Although still only a boy of 14, Elagabalus was also the High Priest of Emesa. He brought with him to Rome the sun god Baal, represented in Homs by a black stone, and raised the worship of the god to the status of an official religion. His reign was an orgy of debauchery bordering on madness and after four years he was murdered by members of the Praetorian Guard. The black stone was sent back to Homs, where it continued to be venerated locally. Fifty years later it once again rose to prominence throughout the empire when the Emperor Aurelian came to Homs to make offerings to Baal prior to his defeat of Queen Zenobia. Aurelian attributed his success to the sun god’s intervention and went on to build a temple to Sol Invictus (the ‘Invincible Sun’) in Rome, raising Baal once again to the status of official religion. In the meantime, Elagabalus was succeeded by his cousin Alexander Severus who, although also only a boy of 13, proved himself more worthy of the title of Emperor, bringing about a number of important reforms and checking the worst excesses of the imperial court. He was murdered in AD 235 following a revolt within the army, bringing to an end this Syrian Dynasty in Rome.

During the Byzantine period, Homs became an important centre of Christianity, and remains so today. There is a significant Christian population and various churches in the eastern part of the city. In AD 540 it suffered serious damage at the hands of the Persians, before falling in AD 635 to the Muslim invaders, led by the Arab general Khalid Ibn al-Walid, whose tomb is in the city’s main mosque. The Islamic period saw it develop as a centre for the more puritanical elements of the Muslim faith, who opposed the relative liberalism of the Umayyad court in Damascus. Despite its proximity to the Crusader stronghold of Krak des Chevaliers, it resisted coming under their control, falling instead under the orbit of the new Zengid rulers of Aleppo in 1130. From this time onwards, although it continued to be an important commercial centre, in political terms it fell into relative obscurity, eclipsed by the larger and more influential city-states of Damascus and Aleppo. It was only during the 20th century that it developed as an important industrial centre, with oil and sugar refineries as well as phosphate treatment centres largely overshadowing the traditional spinning and weaving industries.

Getting around

You really need a taxi (or a local microbus) to get to and from the bus/microbus stations and the railway station, but once you are in the centre, the city is easily explored on foot. There are plenty of taxis hanging around if you need them and a journey within town shouldn’t cost more than S£25.

Ins and outs

Getting there and away

Homs is a major road transport hub and has good bus connections with the rest of the country, as well as numerous microbuses serving surrounding areas. It is also on the railway line running between Damascus and Aleppo, and any train running between the two cities stops here. The main Pullman bus station and microbus station are next door to each other, just under 3 km from the city centre. A taxi to the centre from here costs approximately S£30. If you’ve come into town from Palmyra on an old-style bus, you’ll probably be dropped at the old ‘Hob-hob’ bus station which is a good 6 km from the centre.

Homs is the most obvious (or at least closest) place from which to visit the Crusader castle of Krak des Chevaliers, and there are regular services from the microbus station. However, given the better accommodation to be found in Hama, many people elect to stay there instead.

Homs

Bus

Homs is a major transport hub and there’s no need to book bus tickets in advance. The Pullman bus station is north of the town centre on Hama St. A taxi from the centre to here shouldn’t cost more than S£30. Al-Ahliah bus company have plenty of departures from here. To Damascus their buses depart every 30 mins (2 hrs, S£110), Hama every hour (30 mins, S£30), and Aleppo every hour (2 hrs, S£115), as well as 4 buses per day running to Lattakia (2½ hrs, S£125) via Tartus (1½ hrs, S£65), at 1015, 1300, 1445 and 1900.

Kadmous have similar services to all the towns mentioned but also have buses to Deir ez-Zor (5 hrs, S£265) via Palmyra (2½ hrs, S£105) at 0730, 1130, 1300, 1445, 1730 and 2000.

Microbus

Right next door to the Pullman bus station is the large and confusing microbus garage; particularly useful for transport to Krak des Chevaliers and Hama. Microbuses to Krak des Chevaliers (1 hr, S£50) depart regularly, when full, from the right-hand side of the car park. Ask for the bus going to ‘Al-Hosn’ and locals will point you in the right direction. Don’t forget to bring along your passport as they’re quite efficient at registering foreigners from this microbus station. There are also frequent departures to Hama (45 mins, S£50) from here.

Train

The train station is on Al-Korniche St, to the southwest of the city centre. Heading south along Al-Korniche St, just before you reach the large ‘Homs Tourism Department’ building, a subway gives access to the east side of the railway tracks, from where you can reach the station, a massive, Soviet-style edifice that is difficult to miss. All the services between Damascus and Aleppo call in here. To Damascus (2¼ hrs, 1st class S£135, 2nd class S£110) there are 3 express services per day at 0840, 1210 and 1845, and to Aleppo (2 hrs, 1 st class S£130, 2nd class S£100) at 0915, 1830 and 2230.

Banks

Shoukri al-Kouwatli St has a branch of CBS which changes cash and by the clock tower there’s a Banque Bemo which has an ATM.

Post

The post office is located on Abdul Monem Riad St, Sat-Thu 0900-1730.

Visa extensions

The Passport and Immigration office, Sat-Thu 0800-1400, is on the 3rd floor of a building just off Ibn Khaldoun St; entry from the street is via a covered arcade. Fairly chaotic and inefficient; not the best place to extend your visa. There are several photo studios on the ground floor if you need passport photos.