7 km south of Tartous; Amrit was a Phoenician religious center, heavily influenced in its architectural style by the Achaemenid Persians. It is the only extant site in Syria whose remains, though fragmentary, convey this mixture of civilizations, reflecting the ability of the Phoenicians to absorb and syncretise outside influences. It was also the continental port for the Phoenician settlement on Arwad, the island 2.5 km to the west.

The earliest constructions of the site date to the end of the third millennium BC. It was probably founded by people from Arwad and it was functioned as a religious center. Many of the buildings date from the period of Persian dominance after Cyrus' conquest of Babylon in 539 BC. The most significant monument, the temple compound dedicated to the gods Melqart and Echmoun, was built at the end of the sixth century BC with elements freely borrowed from Mesopotamian and Egyptian architecture. It was still functioning as a temple when Alexander the Great paused here in 330 BC. It is thought that the statuary of the temple was thrown to the sacred lake earlier (mid 4th century) during the general breakdown of Persian control in the area. By the Roman period, Amrit had been abandoned and the port of Antaradus (Tartous) to the north offered better access to larger ships.

The Temple:

It was dedicated to the god Melqart with a secondary Egyptian god of healing, Echmoun. The temple was built around an artificial lake with a small sanctuary on a platform of a living rock at the center. The rectangular pond was surrounded on three sides by a colonnaded arcade whose façade was originally topped by a continuous row of merlons. A spring was channeled towards the sacred precinct from the foot of the tell to the east, due to its healing properties. The rectangular pond was surrounded on three sides by a colonnaded arcade whose façade was originally topped by a continuous row of merlons. Two towers flanked the north edges of the east and west colonnades, reflecting a Mesopotamian inspiration. On the open platform between the towers was a high altar facing south towards the opening in the naos.

The Stadium:

Traces of a stadium (230 * 30 m) can be found on the other side of the Amrit River which flanks the compound to the north. Constructed in the 4th century, the stadium remained in use until the following century.

The Monumental Towers:

What's also worthy to see are the monumental towers that go back to the 4th century as well, only it was in use to the end of the 1st century. One of them (the northern) is 7 m high, cylindrical with four unfinished lion sculptures around the echoes that of the temple compound. Two burial chambers lie in a hypogeum. The Inside it were two funerary chambers.