--- title: Palmyra: See the Ancient Syrian City That Was Just Captured by ISIS description: The Syrian town of Palmyra is home to Roman ruins, which experts fear ISIS could destroy canonical: https://time.com/3892219/palmyra-isis-syria-photos/ author: TIME Photo article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-05-21T15:14:54.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T05:03:22.932Z article:section: World og:title: See the Ancient Syrian City of Palmyra That Was Just Captured by ISIS og:description: The Syrian town of Palmyra is home to Roman ruins, which experts fear ISIS could destroy og:url: https://time.com/3892219/palmyra-isis-syria-photos/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt768d9520fa0a2a94/698851222dce018fd49e3d3b/palmyra-isis-syria-6.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: SYRIA-CONFLICT-ARCHAEOLOGY-PALMYRA-FILES og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: See the Ancient Syrian City of Palmyra That Was Just Captured by ISIS twitter:description: The Syrian town of Palmyra is home to Roman ruins, which experts fear ISIS could destroy twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt768d9520fa0a2a94/698851222dce018fd49e3d3b/palmyra-isis-syria-6.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # See the Ancient Syrian City of Palmyra That Was Just Captured by ISIS by [TIME Photo](/author/time-photo/) ## TIME Photo May 21, 2015 3:14 PM CUT  A partial view of the ancient oasis city of Palmyra, Syria in 2014, including The Arch of Triumph which was destroyed on Oct. 4, 2015. A partial view of the ancient oasis city of Palmyra, Syria in 2014, including The Arch of Triumph which was destroyed on Oct. 4, 2015.Joseph Eid—AFP/Getty Images by [TIME Photo](/author/time-photo/) ## TIME Photo May 21, 2015 3:14 PM CUT After months of fierce fighting, the Islamic State of Iraq and Greater Syria (ISIS) captured the town of Palmyra northeast of Syria’s capital Damascus on Thursday, leaving the group in control of more than half of the country’s territory—and raising fears among experts that its fighters will begin smashing spectacular ancient sites. [_Read more: ISIS Must Be Stopped From Destroying Ancient City, U.N. Says_](http://time.com/3892274/u-n-palmyra-isis/ "undefined")  A partial view of the ancient oasis city of Palmyra, Syria in 2014, including The Arch of Triumph which was destroyed on Oct. 4, 2015. Joseph Eid—AFP/Getty Images  A partial view of the ancient oasis city of Palmyra, Syria in 2014. Joseph Eid—AFP/Getty Images  Carvings on a wall in the courtyard of the sanctuary of Baal in the ancient oasis city of Palmyra, Syria in 2014. Joseph Eid—AFP/Getty Images  The castle of the ancient Syrian city of Palmyra on May 18, 2015, a day after ISIS militants fired rockets into the city and killed five people. AFP/Getty Images  A general view of the old souk and the Victory gate is seen at the historical city of Palmyra in 2010. Omar Sanadi—Reuters  A partial view of the ancient oasis city of Palmyra, Syria in 2014. 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