Damascus (Syria), August 3 : Architectural historians are ramping up efforts to restore Damascus''s historic bathhouses, which experts say are crumbling and in danger of disappearing altogether.

The baths in Damascus are among the most famous in the region. Many date back to Roman times and flourished in the Umayyad caliphate of the seventh and eighth centuries AD.

According to historians, that bathhouses are an important part of Syrian history.

They were used for political activities, as no one feared a meeting held there would be placed under surveillance. On occasion, political leaders would be assassinated in bathhouses, including princes from the medieval Mamluk dynasty.

Damascus - Syria's President Bashar al-Assad is to begin a two-day visit to Iran on Saturday for talks over regional issues and Tehran's controversial nuclear programme.

Al-Assad's visit comes weeks after he said he was asked by French President Nicolas Sarkozy to use his close ties with Iran to help resolve the standoff over Iran's nuclear programme.

Al-Assad is expected to also discuss with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad Syria's ongoing indirect peace talks with Israel under Turkish auspices.

Damascus

Damascus (Syria), July 17: Archaeologists have discovered a number of round buildings that are eight and half meters high and date back to 5,000 BC, in Syria.