On the limestone ridge of Jebel Barisha, in north-west Syria near the Turkish border at Reyhanlı, lie the stone ruins of Deirouné, one of the hundreds of late Roman and Byzantine villages that UNESCO lists as the Ancient Villages of Northern Syria, often called the Dead Cities. Between roughly the first and seventh centuries, farmers here grew olives and vines on the uplands, prospered, and built houses, churches and olive presses in finely cut stone. When the trade networks that sustained them collapsed, the villages were slowly abandoned, and the dry climate left them remarkably intact.
The landscape is stark and beautiful: grey limestone outcrops, red earth in the hollows, olive groves, and roofless basilicas standing against the sky. The ridges of Jebel Barisha, Jebel Sem'an and Jebel Zawiyé hold the densest concentration of these villages, and on a clear day you can see from one ridge to the next, a whole lost countryside spread out below.
The hard truth is that this is Idlib province, and the area has been at the centre of the Syrian war and its aftermath. Security, access and the state of the roads change quickly and depend on who controls what at any given moment. Many governments advise against all travel to Syria, insurance is usually void, and border crossings for private vehicles may be closed or restricted. If you are reading this as a plan, read the latest official travel advice first and take it seriously; this is not a place to improvise.
For most riders, Deirouné is for now a place to know about rather than to visit, and perhaps to see from the Turkish side, where Reyhanlı and the Hatay province offer fuel, food and the wider history of Antioch. Hatay's cuisine, with its spicy dips, künefe and pomegranate molasses, is reason enough to ride that far. If peace and access return, these ridges will be among the most extraordinary rides in the Middle East: slow, stony lanes through olive groves to Byzantine churches that look as if their congregations stepped out only yesterday.