Milky Way passes over Syria's Palmyra ruins: timelapse The galaxy is viewed passing over the ancient ruins of Palmyra, one of six Syrian sites inscribed on UNESCO's World Heritage list, all of which suffered varying degrees of damage during the country’s 13-year civil war. During their occupation of the site starting in 2015, jihadists from the Islamic State group destroyed several temples, columns, and other ancient treasures, reducing much of the city to rubble. | AFP News Agency