Qasr ibn Wardan

Emperor Justinian I (r. 527–565) had the complex built in the mid-6th century as part of a defensive line against the Sasanian Empire, together with Resafa and Halabiye. The Arabic Wikipedia mentions the dates 562–564 on the upper windows of the church and palace, but elsewhere gives the 5th century as the time of construction. According to the English Wikipedia, the unusual style was probably chosen to impress local Bedouin tribes and consolidate control over them.

According to the Arabic Wikipedia, the name is Arabic and later than the building: it refers to an influential Bedouin figure known as Ibn Wardan, who about three centuries ago used the palace as a stopover and probably belonged to the Anaza tribe. On 8 February 2018 the Syrian Arab Army recaptured the village and site from ISIS.[1][2]

The palace shows alternating bands of black basalt and yellow brick (ablaq in Arabic). Basalt was brought from areas far to the north or south; the marble columns and capitals are thought to come from Apamea. The palace, probably also the local governor's residence, covers about 2,000 m² around a square courtyard 25.5 m across according to the Arabic Wikipedia. Its best-preserved part is the southern façade; there are remains of stables to the north and a small bath to the east. The function of each room was indicated by a carved stone.

The church west of the palace is square, with a nave and two aisles, and was once topped by a large dome of which only a pendentive remains; it is an example of early Byzantine dome construction. Upper galleries for women ran along three sides, of which the north and south walls survive; the fourth side ends in a half-domed apse. Nothing remains today of the barracks south of the palace.[1][2]

The sources contain no dated condition statement. The latest documented event is the military recapture on 8 February 2018; the sources say nothing about possible war damage.[1]