Hama Governorate, central Syria · Syria
A city on the Orontes River famous for its norias, giant wooden waterwheels that lifted water to the gardens and aqueducts for eight hundred years or more.
Photo: Vyacheslav Argenberg · CC BY 4.0
Hama sits in a valley on the Orontes River, about 210 kilometres north of Damascus. The site has been settled since at least the Neolithic, and the citadel mound in the middle of the city holds layers back to the Bronze Age. In the Old Testament it appears as Hamath, the capital of a small Aramaean kingdom, and it was later a Seleucid, Roman, Byzantine and Islamic town.
Its most famous feature is the norias, huge wooden waterwheels, of which about seventeen survive along the river in the centre of the city. The Orontes flows below the level of the surrounding land, and the wheels, up to about 20 metres in diameter, were turned by the current and used to lift water into aqueducts that irrigated gardens and supplied the city. They were built and rebuilt over many centuries, mostly from the Mamluk and Ottoman periods, and they made a distinctive creaking sound that became a symbol of the city.
Hama also has an 18th-century Ottoman palace, the Azm Palace, a Great Mosque built on a Roman temple and Byzantine church, and an old quarter that was largely destroyed in 1982, when the government of Hafez al-Assad crushed an uprising by the Muslim Brotherhood, killing thousands of people. Hama was again the scene of protest in 2011 and of conflict in the war, and fell to opposition forces in December 2024. This page describes the city's history and heritage, and is not a guide to visiting.
Why it matters
Hama matters because its waterwheels are a living example of medieval engineering, and because its story is bound up with modern Syrian history.
Wooden waterwheels, in some cases 20 metres across, that raised the water of the Orontes to aqueducts, an ingenious system that shaped the city and its gardens.
An 18th-century palace built for Asad Pasha al-Azm, with courtyards, a fountain and a museum. It is one of the finest Ottoman houses in Syria.
One of the oldest mosques in Syria, built on the site of a Roman temple and Byzantine church, with a tall minaret and an Umayyad-period layout.
Unlike most Syrian cities, Hama is defined by a river, and its parks, cafés and gardens along the Orontes are a tradition.
The 1982 massacre and the events since 2011 make Hama central to any understanding of modern Syria.
Main attractions
The following are the main sights as they were documented before the war. It is not a visitor route.
Around seventeen wooden waterwheels along the river, the largest of which, al-Muhammadiyya, is about 21 metres across. Their creaking sound was known throughout Syria.
A palace built in 1740, with an inner courtyard, a series of reception rooms and a museum with Roman mosaics, Ottoman pottery and local costumes.
A mosque in the centre of the city, on the site of a Roman temple and a Byzantine church. It was rebuilt several times and has a fine minaret and a courtyard with arcades.
A large artificial mound at the centre of the city, with layers from the Bronze Age to the Ottoman period. It is now a park, with only fragments of the ancient fortress visible.
A 12th-century mosque and school, with a carved minbar and a fine dome, associated with the ruler Nur al-Din.
The neighbourhoods of Hadher, Kilaniyya and Barudi, which once held Ottoman houses and mosques, were largely destroyed in 1982 and rebuilt in modern form.
Condition and access
Hama's monuments suffered less physical damage in the war than those of Aleppo or Palmyra, but the city has been marked by the events of 1982 and after 2011. Information on the present state of individual monuments is limited.
The waterwheels survived the war, although several fell into neglect or disuse, and the flow of the Orontes has been affected by drought, pollution and dams. Most now turn only for show, if at all.
Much of the old city was destroyed in the 1982 massacre, when the army shelled districts held by insurgents. Estimates of the dead range from about ten thousand to forty thousand, and rebuilding erased much of the old fabric.
Hama was a centre of protest in 2011 and was controlled by the government during most of the war, although fighting occurred in the province around it, including near Apamea and in the countryside.
Opposition forces captured Hama in early December 2024, days before the Assad government collapsed. Reports since then on the state of monuments are limited.
Most governments advised against travel to Syria at the time of writing. Check your government's current advice. This page is not a recommendation to go.
FAQ
Large wooden waterwheels driven by the current of the Orontes River that lifted water into aqueducts. About seventeen survive, and some are more than 20 metres in diameter. They date mostly from the Mamluk and Ottoman periods.
The government of Hafez al-Assad crushed an armed uprising by the Muslim Brotherhood by shelling and storming districts of the city. Thousands of people, estimates range from ten thousand to forty thousand, were killed, and much of the old city was destroyed.
Some turn, but they no longer supply water on the scale they once did, and many have been neglected. Water levels in the river have fallen and pollution has increased.
No. The nearest World Heritage Site is Crac des Chevaliers, roughly 70 km to the west, and Apamea, which is not listed, lies about 55 km to the north-west.
Most governments advised against all travel to Syria at the time of writing. This site does not recommend travel. Check your government's current advice.
An 18th-century palace built for the Ottoman governor Asad Pasha al-Azm, with an internal courtyard and reception rooms. It houses a small museum. A more famous Azm Palace with the same name is in Damascus.
Keep exploring
Other sites in this overview that connect with Hama, historically or geographically.
Hama Governorate, Orontes Valley, Syria
A Hellenistic and Roman city founded around 300 BCE, famed for its long colonnaded main street, its theatre and its mosaics — and now one of the most looted archaeological sites in the world.
Best known for The Cardo Maximus, a 1.85-kilometre colonnade, some of whose columns are carved with twisting and fluted patterns.
Read the overview — ApameaHoms Governorate, western Syria, Syria
A 12th- and 13th-century Hospitaller fortress with two rings of walls, a great vaulted hall and a chapel, on a spur commanding the pass between the Syrian interior and the Mediterranean.
Best known for The concentric walls and the great hall, one of the finest surviving examples of Crusader military architecture.
Read the overview — Krak des ChevaliersAleppo Governorate, northern Syria, Syria
One of the world's oldest continuously inhabited cities, with a medieval citadel, the Great Mosque, khans and about thirteen kilometres of covered market, much of which was damaged or destroyed between 2012 and 2016.
Best known for The citadel and the covered souks — the most heavily damaged of any Syrian historic centre, and the focus of the country's largest heritage reconstruction effort.
Read the overview — AleppoRead next
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