Qasr al-Hayr al-Sharqi and Sergiopolis

Out of the shimmering sands of the Syrian desert surges the Umayyad castle of Caliph Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik, its defensive walls buttressed by towers which stand like sentinels over the searing waste. Within the walls lie the rack and ruin of centuries – broken pillars and crumbling masonry laid bare to a scorching wind, while ancient arches soar beneath a blazing sky. Not many tourists venture here. Wandering the debris alone, I stumble upon the half-buried skull of a dog or goat, bleached under the stark white sun.

Further north, along the Raqqa road, lie the ruins of the old walled city of Sergiopolis (pictured above), once a place of pilgrimage to St Sergius and, subsequently, home to a Caliph's court. By a domed alcove, which is all that remains of a tetraconch church, I find a flight of stone steps leading to a little window with a view of the rubble-strewn sands below – a quiet place to pause and sit and contemplate the desolation.