On the left is the church, to the right, the palace.
In the mid 6th century, the emperor Justinian sought to strengthen the southeast of his empire by building settlements and forts in key strategic positions. Qasr ibn Wardan was part of a defensive line which also included Resafeh, Halabiyeh and Zalabiyeh (the latter two on opposite banks of the Euphrates to the east). The distinctive banding of the walls consists of alternating courses of standard Byzantine brick and huge blocks of the same hard black basalt as is found at Bosra in the south.