Palmyra

To find a whole new meaning to the phrase 'girl power', head to Palmyra, a town set in a desert oasis, where the legendary Queen Zenobia ruled and stood against the two great empires of the Romans and the Persians. Zenobia was taken captive to Rome when the Emperor Aurelian conquered and destroyed the city in AD 272.

It was originally known as Tadmor, meaning 'city of dates' and its existence was recorded on stone tablets dating from the 19th century BC. In the third century BC, the city became one of the main trade routes linking east and west, and began to prosper. In the first century AD, Tadmor came under Roman rule and was renamed Palmyra, meaning 'city of palm trees'. After a succession of rulers, including Zenobia, Palmyra was captured by the Muslim leader Khalid ibn al-Walid in AD 634, and its status as a great trading city and cultural centre declined. The ruins of the Valley of Tombs, the Hypogeum of the Three Brothers, the Great Temple of Bel and the Monumental Arch, now a UNESCO World Heritage Site, are some of the fine remains found over a wide area of the city, prized as containing some of the most famous monuments to the Classical period in the Middle East. Halabiyé and Zalabiya, situated 40km (25 miles) from Deir ez Zor, also contain ruins that bear witness to an important military role during the reign of Queen Zenobia.