Syrgilla - syria - dead cities

Serjilla or Syrgilla (Arabic: سيرجيلة)  is one of the best preserved of the Dead Cities in northwestern Syria.

The Dead Cities (Arabic: المدن الميتة) or Forgotten Cities (Arabic: المدن المنسية) are a group of 700 abandoned settlements in northwest Syria between Aleppo and Idlib. 

The Dead Cites were inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2011, under the name of "Ancient Villages of Northern Syria".

Serjilla is located in the  highland region of Jebel Riha, approximately 65 km north from Hama and 80 km southwest from Aleppo.

It is very close to ruins of another "Dead City", Bara

it was built in 473, already during the time of Christianity.

The dead cities flourished in the 5th and 6th centuries as they were situated on important trade routes.

Serjilla  and many of the other "dead cities" were abandoned in the seventh century when the Arabs conquered the region and discontinued merchant routes between Antioch and Apamea.