Cityscape of Shahba in As-Suwayda Governorate province — The black basalt Roman city of Philippopolis, built by an Arab emperor

As-Suwayda Governorate · Syria

Shahba

شهبا

32.8547° N · 36.6297° E
Plan a routeOffline planner

“The black basalt Roman city of Philippopolis, built by an Arab emperor.”

As-Suwayda Governorate · April–June and September–October; autumn coincides with the grape and apple harvest of Jabal al-Arab.
Province
As-Suwayda Governorate
Population
~35,000
Climate
Highland Mediterranean: warm dry summers, cold winters with frost and occasional snow at 1,050 m.
Best Time
April–June and September–October; autumn coincides with the grape and apple harvest of Jabal al-Arab.

Today's weather — Shahba

Overview

Shahba sits at the foot of Jabal al-Arab in the As-Suwayda highlands, built almost entirely of black volcanic basalt. Beneath the modern Druze town lies one of the best-preserved Roman planned cities in the Levant: Philippopolis, founded in the mid-3rd century CE as the birthplace of Emperor Philip the Arab, its straight colonnaded streets, theatre, and monumental gates still laid out on the original grid.

History

The Roman Emperor Philip the Arab, born here in 204 CE, refounded his home village around 244 CE as a grand new city — Philippopolis — with a theatre, baths, temples and colonnaded streets on a rigid Roman grid. The city was never fully finished after his death in 249 CE. Shahba's fame rests equally on its mosaics: a series of exceptionally fine late-Roman mosaic floors excavated in the town, now displayed in the Shahba Museum, are considered among the finest in Syria.

Highlights

  1. Shahba Roman Theatre
  2. Shahba Museum mosaics
  3. The colonnaded cardo and decumanus
  4. Roman baths and gates
  5. Black basalt old town
  6. Jabal al-Arab orchards

Major Attractions

  • Shahba Theatre

    A 3rd-century Roman theatre of black basalt facing the orchards and the mountain — one of the finest surviving theatres in Syria, still used for occasional festivals.

  • Shahba Museum

    Built to house the town's mosaic floors, including the celebrated Orpheus charming the animals and a marine scene with Aphrodite — masterworks of late Roman mosaic art.

  • The colonnaded streets

    The cardo and decumanus still cross at right angles, lined with fallen basalt columns and carved doorways of dark volcanic stone.

  • Roman baths

    Monumental bath complexes from Philippopolis, their basalt vaulting and hypocaust systems still traceable among the houses of the modern town.

  • Jabal al-Arab

    The green basalt massif rising behind the town — vineyards, apple orchards and Druze hill villages, with viewpoints over the whole plain.

Traveller Tips

  • Combine with the National Museum mosaics and the nearby Roman site of Siah' and the temples of Qanawat, 20 km north-west.
  • The museum keeps limited hours — check locally or arrive in the morning.
  • Autumn is grape and apple season; roadside stalls sell fruit straight from the orchards.
  • Dress modestly and ask before photographing people — this is the heart of the Druze community.

What to Eat

  • Jabal al-Arab grapes

    The region's famous table grapes, raisins and thin-sheets of dried grape paste (keshk al-inab), sold at roadside stalls in late summer.

  • Mountain apples

    Crisp autumn apples from the orchards around Shahba, a hallmark of the Suwayda highlands.

  • Home cooking

    Meals in Shahba are home food — stuffed vine leaves, kibbeh, lentils and mountain dairy — best found in small local eateries and guesthouses.

Other local flavours: Grapes and raisins · Apples · Truffles from the steppe · Alkalama cheese and labneh

Where to Stay

  • Local guesthouses

    Guesthouse

    A handful of family-run guesthouses in and around Shahba; book ahead in autumn.

  • As-Suwayda city

    Base city

    Twenty minutes south-west, with hotels, restaurants and the main market of the governorate.

  • Qanawat

    Nearby base

    An attractive highland town 20 km away, beside its Roman temple ruins in the woods.

← All cities

Next

Damascus →