Syrian Palmyra To Be Ready For Tourists By Summer 2019 - Provincial Governor

Syrian Palmyra to Be Ready for Tourists by Summer 2019 - Provincial Governor

Syrian Palmyra will be ready to receive tourists in the summer of 2019, Homs provincial governor Talal Barazi said on Wednesday.

HOMS (Syria) (Pakistan Point news / Sputnik - 16th August, 2018) Syrian Palmyra will be ready to receive tourists in the summer of 2019, Homs provincial governor Talal Barazi said on Wednesday.

"The authorities now have a project to repair all the damage caused to Palmyra's Old City. There are also good offers from the world powers to restore the artifacts and historical value of Palmyra. I suppose that Palmyra will be completely ready for receiving tourists by summer 2019," Barazi said.

UNESCO, Russia, Poland, Italy and other countries and institutions, as well as European non-governmental organizations, offered assistance in restoring the ancient city.

"This is the world history and it belongs not only to Syria," he concluded.

Palmyra was the capital of the Palmyrene Empire and one of the richest cities of the Roman empire. The ancient ruins and monuments of Palmyra, a UNESCO World Heritage site, lost several important artifacts in the first attack of Islamic State terrorist group (IS, banned in Russia) in 2015. The Temple of Bel, Temple of Baalshamin, Arch of Triumph and columns in the Valley of the Tombs were destroyed by terrorists. The city was eventually taken back by the Syrian government forces, but in December 2016, IS militants recaptured it, damaging the historic site even more. The Syrian forces regained control of the city in March 2017, and Russian engineers cleared the city of mines.