Shmemis

Shmemis ( _ar. قلعة شميميس) also ash-Shmemis, ash-Shmamis) is a castle located 5 km north west of Salamiyah and 30 km south east from Hama.

The castle was first built, on top of an extinct volcano, in the first century BCE by the Emesan Arab dynasty called the (آل شميس غرام) Sempsigerami. Most of the original structure was subsequently destroyed by an earthquake. It was later destroyed by the Persian king Khosrau_II in 613 AD. It was rebuilt in 1229 AD by Assad ud-Din Shirkoh, an Ayyubid governor of Homs. However, the Mongols destroyed it in 1260 AD and then by the Tatars in 1401 AD. It was rebuilt after the expulsion of the Mongols and Tatars from Syria. The castle today is in ruins with only walls partially preserved.

External links

* [http://www.hama.ws/Shmemis.asp الموقع الرسمي لمحافظة حماة]