Damascus, (SANA)-Palmyra is highly important wealth and a unique historical testimony, Italian President Giorgio Napolitano said on Friday.

''The city is a symbolic characteristic binding Rome and the East, and a living testimony to the geographical proximity and historical ties between Syria and Rome,'' The Italian President told SANA during a visit to Palmyra.

The Italian president added he highly admired Palmyra's magnificent and ''breathtaking'' ruins.

Napolitano and his wife toured the Temple of Bel, the Elabel Cemetery, the Straight Road and the ancient Amphitheater of Palmyra.

For his part, the Italian Professor Paolo Mattie, who discovered the Kingdom of Ebla at Tel Mardikh site north of Syria, said the Italian President's visit is a very important event that stresses the excellent Syrian-Italian ties.

''It will prove the cultural and economic Syrian-Italian relations that would give further momentum to the bilateral political relations,'' he added.

The Italian President and his wife also visited on Friday the old city of Aleppo and listened to a briefing on it, its markets, the Aleppo Citadel and Khan al-Shuna from researcher Fawzi Chabouk.

Manal Ismael/ Fadi Allafi /M.O.