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Hama, Syria, July 15, 2018. The Hama Castle is built on a sedimentary hill on the west bank of the Orontes River. The castle was likely built in the Seleucid era in the third century BC, and functioned until the Mongols destroyed it during their conquest of the area in 1258 AD. Before 2011, the people of Hama would visit the castle to relax. During the Syrian Revolution, the loyalist forces have used the castle's hill to bomb the villages and towns outside of their control.