After the frontlines: Palmyra’s fight for cultural and economic revival

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Palmyra, Syria, is undergoing efforts for cultural and economic revival after years of conflict marked by destruction by ISIS and ongoing war. The city, known for its ancient heritage sites including the Temple of Bel, suffered extensive damage, and tourism is now considered a key to its recovery.

After the frontlines: Palmyra’s fight for cultural and economic revival Darcie Imbert on Wed, 07/01/2026 - 11:59 Syria’s cultural icon was ravaged by conflict. Tourism is key to its revival. The remains of the Temple of Bel in Palmyra, Syria, destroyed by the Islamic State group in 2015 (Darcie Imbert) Off By the time the Islamic State (IS) captured Palmyra in 2015, Syria had already endured years of civil war. Over the decade that followed, the city experienced successive periods of control by IS and the Assad government, with Russian military intervention further shaping the battlefield. Each left its own scars through violence, displacement and destruction, transforming a landscape that had sustained its people for centuries.  It took 30 days for the people of Palmyra to comprehend the brutality of IS. Shortly after capturing the city, the militant group publicly staged the execution of 20 men in the Roman Amphitheatre beneath its black flag, turning one of Syria’s most revered cultural monuments into a stage for terror. Their bodies were displayed in the streets of the modern city, suspended by their wrists and left to decay under the desert sun for seven days.  Once IS was fully seated in its power, attention turned to the ancient ruins.  (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); Palmyra, one of  Syria’s most important Unesco heritage sites, is celebrated as a symbol of the cultural and religious diversity that once characterised the region. The network of polytheistic temples, shrines and artifacts predates the dawn of Islam, making it a prime target for IS’s iconoclastic ideology. Militants destroyed some of Palmyra’s most recognisable landmarks in choreographed acts of propaganda, while looting and trafficking other artefacts through the antiquities market to generate revenue. 'They even burnt 2,000 year-old mummies because they weren’t Muslim' - Khalid, Palmyra tour guide The famed Arch of Triumph was blasted into two lone columns. The Temple of Bel lost its central sanctuary, unrecognisable if it wasn’t for the enclosure wall that remains intact. Figures were defaced, their features chiselled away. “They even burnt 2,000 year-old mummies because they weren’t Muslim,” laughed Khalid, a tour guide who lived through the IS occupation.  Behind the ruins sits a millennia-old oasis: the source of life that allowed Palmyra to flourish as a trading hub in the first place.   Ahmad, a Palmyran who started working with tourists from the age of nine, remembers a road shaded by palm trees, where families sat on doorsteps inviting tourists in for tea. Today, the road is exposed to the harsh sun, flanked by cleared rubble and scorched earth as a result of successive waves of destruction.  Huge parts of the ruins at Palmyra were destroyed by the Islamic State group during its occupation of large parts of Syria in 2015 (Darcie Imbert) The modern city of Palmyra was not spared of savagery either. Homes and buildings were systematically destroyed during successive military campaigns, then looted. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); “When I came back, the house was mined and everything had been stolen by regime forces, even the copper pipes,” the Saleh family told Middle East Eye.  The realities of reconstruction  The scars left by war have become part of Palmyra’s story. Its modern history sits alongside its ancient past, drawing a different kind of tourist.  A spokesperson from Unesco claims that a recovery roadmap for Palmyra has been developed, which includes conservation work, visitor infrastructure and livelihood opportunities - adding to emergency safeguarding activities carried out. Yet many residents and officials describe a widening gap between plans and reality. International frameworks for recovery exist, but meaningful, visible support remains limited, leaving the reconstruction in the hands of those returning to rebuild themselves.  'Palmyra is the hero, it’s the icon of Syria' - Rami Nawaya, founder of Syrian Guides “Palmyra is the hero, it’s the icon of Syria,” Rami Nawaya, founder of Syrian Guides, told MEE. “Now, it’s taken on another dimension, attracting the adventurers who are interested in the cultural dimension but also the conflict.” The priority for many working to revive tourism is not rebuilding the archeological site, but on restoring the infrastructure that allows people to experience it: reopening hotels, restaurants and guesthouses, improving the roads and providing services that allow people to return permanently.  For residents, tourism is one of the few industries capable of bringing money back into the city and helping restore livelihoods. Before the war, it accounted for around half of the city’s economy supporting thousands of people. A road in the modern city of Palmyra that was once lined with hotels and guesthouses now bears the scars of war (Darcie Imbert) After