Hama
Shmemis Castle crowns the cone of an extinct volcano about three kilometres north-west of Salamiyah. An older fortress here was rebuilt in the thirteenth…
Shmemis Castle crowns the cone of an extinct volcano about three kilometres north-west of Salamiyah. An older fortress here was rebuilt in the thirteenth century by the Ayyubid prince of Homs, and it is surrounded by a deep moat cut into the basalt rock. Its circular walls and the wide views over the plain make it one of the most striking castles of central Syria.