Palmyra in 1926 (from the Guardian Archive, originally published 12th June 1926)
Palmyra panorama view shortly after sunrise (2005)
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:PalmyraPanoramaZoom.jpg
In April 1926, the Manchester Guardian’s correspondent was in Beirut for a congress. After the exacting business of formal dinners and fetes, the party set out to explore the historic sites of the region, including Byblos, Tripoli and Krak des Chevaliers – and finally to Palmyra.
This account (whilst coloured with some of the stereotypes of the day) gives a vivid depiction of the region and its antiquities in a time before mass tourism and the depredations that are currently being inflicted on Syria’s cultural inheritance.