Homs

Imagine a city sitting right on a big river called the Orontes. That's Homs! It's in western Syria, a country far away. It's like a special meeting spot, connecting cities inland with the sparkly Mediterranean Sea. It's also pretty high up, about as high as 100 school buses stacked on top of each other!

Homs is SO old, people were talking about it over 2,000 years ago! It used to be called Emesa and was a capital city for a king who worshipped the sun. Later, it became important for Christians, then Muslims took over. It was a big deal for a long, long time because it was in a very important spot for traveling and trading.

Before some big problems happened, Homs was a really big city, even bigger than your whole school and everyone you know! Lots of different people lived there, like Muslims and Christians, and they all got along. There are beautiful old mosques and churches, and a famous castle nearby that looks like it's from a fairy tale!

People in Homs are busy! They used to make lots of things, especially cotton clothes, which were sent all over. It was a busy place for making and selling things. Even though some parts of the city were damaged, people are working hard to fix them up and make Homs strong again.