The Middle East is a paradox. Located at the cultural crossroads between east and west, the region nowadays tends to make headlines for all the wrong reasons, but also served as one of the major cradles of human civilization and birthplace of the world’s three great monotheisms.

Myriad stunning mementoes of the region’s cosmopolitan and history-laden past survive, with a wealth of world-famous attractions ranging from medieval bazaars and historic mosques through to untamed deserts and remote oases.

Stretching from the depths of antiquity through to the futuristic skyscrapers of the modern Gulf, these are the most beautiful places in the Middle East, as picked by our author Gavin Thomas.