Homs or Hims is the 3rd most important city in Syria.It lies 160 km to the north of Damascus (1995 est. pop. 455,000), capital of Homs governorate, on the Orantes River. It is a commercial center located in a fertile plain where wheat, grapes, fruit, and vegetables are grown. Manufactures include refined petroleum, flour, fertilizer, processed foods, handicrafts, and silk, cotton, and woolen textiles. The city is a road and rail junction and has an oil refinery. In ancient times Homs, then called Emesa, was the site of a great temple to Baal (or Helios-Baal), the sungod. Emesa came into startling prominence in the early 3d cent. A.D. when a priest of the temple became Roman emperor as Heliogabalus, or Elagabalus. Aurelian defeated the forces of Zenobia of Palmyra there in 272. The Arabs took the town in 636, renaming it Homs. The Arab soldier Khalid bin al-Walid died there in 642; a shrine and mosque in his honor were erected in 1908. Homs was part of the Ottoman Empire from the 16th cent. until after World War I, when it became part of the French League of Nations mandate. The city has a university,and Many churches still stand in Homs from the days of early Christianity in Syria.One of these churches is said to possess the girdle of the Blessed Virgin.The church of St.Elian is unique for its collection of fine frescoes discovered in 1970.These bear inscriptions in Greek and Arabic, and date back to the end of the 12th century.The Nuri mosque also dates back to the 12th century, distinguished for its beautiful entrance.

Homs City history

Villages Arabic history