The history of the city of Homs goes back to about the year 2300 BC and its name was (Hama Soba). It was mentioned in the documents of “Ebla” that it was an important Roman colony, where the Romans called it “Emesa”, and it included a great temple dedicated to the sun god who was called “El Jabal”.  Emesa ruled a dynasty of priests across the Roman Empire, and two of its prophets left the city and became two emperors, namely: Ilagabalus and Seferus al-Kassandi, whom ruled Rome from the year 193 AD to 211 AD. The city also brought out four empresses, they are: Julia Domna, Julia Meza, Julia Mamaya, and Julia Suimia.

The city of Homs is famous for its seven historical gates and a lot of monuments, buildings, mosques, churches, and hot baths that date back to the oldest ages. Among the most prominent of these landmarks are: the Church of Umm al-Zinar which named because of the presence of the belt (Zinar) of the Virgin Mary in it, till our present day. There is also Homs Castle and the Great al-Nuri Mosque, which was the temple of the sun god, then turned into a church, then to a mosque. There is also “Khaled Ibn Al-Walid” Mosque which is considered one of the most important landmarks in Homs city.

Geographically, the city of Homs is affiliated with Al-Nassara Valley area, which lies to the north of the fertile Baqi’a plain between the mountains of the Syrian coast and the mountains of Lebanon, and is a continuation of the Akkar plain from the east. This region is distinguished by its natural beauty and cultural sophistication, fertility of its land, abundance of trees and archaeological monuments, especially churches and monasteries, the most important of which are: Patriarchal Monastery of St. George which is one of the most important Byzantine monasteries. It contains three ancient churches, the oldest of which is 150 years old and the Church of Shahara, and in the middle of these archaeological monuments is the historical Krak des Chevaliers, which is one of the most important and oldest castles in the world and was registered on the World Heritage List and overlooks the ancient Safita tower.