Beautifully situated at the top of a hill overlooking the fertile Afrin Valley near the border with Turkey, Ain Dara reveals ruins beneath the layers of its tell that date back to the Neo-Hittite period at the beginning of the first millennium B.C.  Two striking lions carved from black basalt stone greet your ascent, followed by lions and sphinxes which guide your visit along the fasade.  A site not to be missed, both for its two-thousand year history, and for its lovely setting.