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A major Greek and Roman city founded in 300 BC by Macedonians. Doura was able to transport goods coming up the Euphrates from Mesopotamia and Gulf across to the increasingly important commercial centre of Palmyra in the desert. Doura is famous for its walls and citadel. The perimeter was fortified by a system of stone towers joined by curtain walls 3 m thick. Partly built of mud brick, the walls still stand, in places, to a height of 9 m. The more substantial stone walls were probably built in the 1st century AD during the period of Parthian dominance. Doura has two gates; Roman triumphal gate and Palmyra Gate (or Great Gate). Immediately inside the Palmyra Gate, the original layout of several of the 3rd-century religious buildings can be discerned; synagogue, the temple of Zeus Kyrios, the Christian chapel, the temple of Artemis, the temple of the Syrian goddess Atargatis, the temple of Agora, the temple of Zeus Theos, the temple of Zeus Megistos, temple of Baal (temple of the Palmyrene gods) and a mythraeum.
The first citadel complex established by the Greeks lies across a wadi that cuts into the southeastern sector of the city, branching off the main ravine. The new citadel consists of stonework which is more robust and massive in scale. In addition, there is the site of three Roman baths.
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