2 dollars (62.20 g) silver coin The Last Look on Palmyra, Niue 2021

Do we wonder how many cities there are in the world? It is estimated that there are more than 2 million of them. And do you know what these cities were – important, powerful and majestic hundreds of years ago? Disappeared mysteriously … leaving only history, legends, beautiful and amazing architecture.

Palmyra is a former city in northern Syria that has been explored since the 18th century. It was first mentioned in the 2nd millennium before our era. This city was a famous trade center in the Middle East. In Greek, the name of the city means “palm city”. It was built on the Silk Road which stretched from China and India to the Mediterranean.

The city of Palmyra is a symbol of an ambitious woman. Queen Zenobia of Palmyra successfully resisted the greatness and power of the Roman Empire, establishing an autonomous empire. She was a cultural ruler and fostered an intellectual environment in which scientists and philosophers could participate. She was tolerant of her subordinates and protected religious minorities. The Queen maintained a stable administration that ruled a multicultural empire. There are many stories about her fate. Its rise and fall have inspired historians, artists and novelists, it is a patriotic symbol in Syria.

Today’s Palmyra is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is known for surviving fragments of temples, dynastic tombs (underground hypogeums, tomb-towers), building walls. One of the best-known architectural monuments is the Arc of Triumph, which was destroyed in 2015 by the ISIS terrorist organization

REVERSE – The Monumental Arch, also called the Arch of Triumph was a Roman ornamental archway in Palmyra, Syria.

OBVERSE – portrait of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II in the center of the design, surrounded by architecture design of Palmyra.

The coin is presented in a wooden gift box. The box can be used not only for storing a coin but also as a holder (the coin is placed in it).