Philanthropist, Environmentalist, Collector: Doris Duke and Her Estates

The group travelled back through Isfahan, Baghdad and Damascus before arriving in Palmyra on April 17th.

In the age of antiquity, Palmyra was an important city of central Syria, located in an oasis northeast of Damascus. It had long been a vital caravan city for travelers crossing the Syrian Desert and was known as the Bride of the Desert. In the 17th century its location was rediscovered by western travelers, beginning to be studied by European and American archaeologists starting from the 19th centuries. Some of the ruins are shown in the images above. For more information, click here.