The destruction of the temple of Baalashmin in the ancient city of Palmyra

The Temple of Baalshamin was an ancient temple in the city of Palmyra, Syria, dedicated to the Canaanite sky god Baalshamin.
he temple was originally a part of an extensive complex building of three courtyards and represented a fusion of ancient Syrian and Roman architectural styles. its altar was built in 115 AD, and the temple was substantially rebuilt in 131 AD.

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In 1864, French photographer and naval officer Louis Vignes was the first to photograph the temple following his expedition to the Dead Sea. the temple was one of the most complete ancient structures in Palmyra. In 1980,

UNESCO designated the temple as a World Heritage Site.
In May 2015, Palmyra was captured by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), a terrorist group with a history of destroying ancient religious structures
On 23 August 2015 (or earlier in July, according to some reports), ISIL militants detonated a large number of explosives inside the Temple of Baalshamin, completely destroying the building. The temple’s destruction was announced by the head of the Syrian Directorate-General of Antiquities and Museums, Maamoun Abdulkarim.

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The destruction was independently verified by a French Pléiades satellite, which photographed the pile of rubble a few days later UNESCO described the willful destruction of the temple as a “war crime”