Images of ancient city of Palmyra before and after Islamist militant destruction

On the rocks at the entrance to the 2,000-year-old Temple of Bel, Islamist militants have written in black: "The Islamic State. No entry for civilians or brothers (fighters)."

While the temple's outer walls, main entrance and courtyard have survived, the main cella or prayer chamber has been destroyed, according to AFP journalists who visited the world heritage site.

Ochre and beige-coloured blocks of stone that once formed the cella walls, rooftop and eight 16-metre (52-foot) tall fluted columns now lie on the ground.

The city was recaptured on 26 of March by Syrian and Russian troops who drove out IS group militants who had occupied it for 10 months.

In Palmyra's stunning Roman theatre, militants have written their names on one wall while another is riddled with bullet marks. It was at this second-century structure that the children of IS group fighters were made to kill army soldiers in public executions.

Where the cella of the shrine of Baal Shamin once stood, only four columns now remain. And the remains of the Arch of Triumph, dating back to the era of Roman Emperor Severus in the third century, lie on the ground, leaving only the two columns that once sustained the central crown still standing.

Syria's antiquities director Maamoun Abdulkarim says he is hopeful that part of the temple can be restored now that the militants have fled.

At the National Museum, the Islamist militants committed some of their worst atrocities against Palmyra's heritage. They threw several of the city's famed busts of large-eyed, ornately dressed women to the ground. They mutilated portraits. They erased the painted faces of dinner guests portrayed in ornate frescoes of funerary banquets.

"Experts believe that 30 percent of the old city of Palmyra has been destroyed," said provincial governor Talal Barazi, who came to inspect the damage.

*This text was edited by Ahram Online