Great Colonnade at Palmyra The western colonnade was the first section to be built. Inscriptions found on some columns confirm that works started before 158 CE. The straight avenue ran in northwest-southeast direction and stretched for , the longest of the three sectors. The main avenue's width was while the side streets were in width. The colonnade's western terminus, the West Gate, was built in the late second-century CE. The avenue also connected in a right angle to the Transverse Colonnade which stretched to the Damascus Gate in the south. The eastern sector of the Great Colonnade started at the Monumental Arch and stretched
Great Colonnade at Palmyra March 2016. However, large parts of it are still intact. The colonnade consists of three sections that were built separately over the course of the second and third century CE. The western stretch of the colonnade is the oldest and started at the West Gate near the Funerary Temple. The eastern section stretched from the Monumental Arch in the center of the town to the entrance of the Temple of Bel. The middle section was built last to connect the two separate colonnades. It met the western stretch at the Great Tetrapylon, and the eastern stretch at the Monumental Arch.