Rassafa (Sergiopolis)

Rassafa is the old Sergiopolis after the name of St. Sergius who was martyrized by the Romans around the year 300 A.C.

Rassafa's northern gate is described as ‘the best preserved products of Byzantine architecture'.The centralised church expresses the Byzantine love for phantasmagoric shapes in church architecture. One can also see the remains of a building called basilica B. There are also sparse remains of several palaces such as; the Palace of Hisham, an Umayyad building of typical square design based on the Roman military enclosure plan. Finally, and most importantly is the Church of St Sergius. This was the focal point of the religious pilgrimage in the last decades of the Byzantine period.

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