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Aleppo
A poem in a stone, grey by
day and gold by night
inhabited for at least eight millennia, its recorded history
first comes to light in the archives of Mari and of the Hittites in the early to
mid second millennium BC. The Amorite kingdom of Yamkhad, central pf Aleppo,
controlled many of the cities and towns in Northern Syria at the beginning of
Syria but at the in1800 BC it was subject to pressures from the east from Mitanni
and, eventually, the overall supremacy of the Hittites. The Assyrians became the
next foreign power to exert their domination in the area (8 – 4C BC), followed
by the Neo-Babylonians then the Persians (539 – 333), whose supremacy lasted
until Alexander’s great campaign cleared the way for the Seleucid Greeks to
establish their claim of the area. Aleppo fell to the Arab army's
resistance in 637. It played a secondary role to Damascus under the Umayyads and
Baghdad under the Abbasids. It became the centre of autonomous power in the 10th
century under the dynasty of the Hamdanids (944 – 1003), particularly under
Saif Al-Dawla (r 944 – 67). However his style taunted the Byzantines into
reasserting their power in the area through an invasion of Northern Syria in 962
by General Nicephorus Phocas, who methodically sacked Aleppo. After a period of
renewed local rule under the Bedouin Mirdasids (1023 – 79), Aleppo was
conquered by the Seljuq Turks in 1070.Following their capture of Antioch in
1098, the Crusaders took much of the surroundings of Aleppo, strangling the city
by cutting off its access to the coast. It was the city’s religious leader,
Ibn Al-Khashab, who rallied the Muslims and invited in Seljuq forces form Al
mosul (Northern Iraq). Zengi, a Mosul Turk, possessed a sense of mission and
dedication which most of his predecessors in recent decades had lacked. He built
up Aleppo as a center of resistance to the Crusaders. This period of Zengi rule
(1128 – 70) continued under his son, Nur Al-Din, with measures to restore the
city’s crumbling facilities after years of neglect. The Ayyubid period (1176
– 1260) saw the role in Aleppo of one of its most illustrious governors,
Al-Zaher Ghazi (r 1193 – 1215), a son of Saladin. Ghazi ‘s work in the major
re-fortification of the citadel is still evident. The work and ruling of Zengi
made Aleppo one of three premier cities of the Islamic works whose new
international trading role was recognized by a series of treaties with Venice
(1207 – 54).Northern Syria, including Aleppo, was devastated by the Mongol
invasion of 1260, which gave the impetus to the Egypt-based Mameluke’s to
seize control of Syria. The Mameluke period lasted from 1260 to 1516. Given
Aleppo’s exposures to the northern threats, it was many decades (marked by
earthquakes, plagues and further Mongol raids) before confidence in the city was
restored. Subsequent economic recovery in the 15th century owed much to the
diversion through Aleppo of the silk caravans that since the Mongol invasion had
preferred the more northerly route via factories on the Black Sea or Cilicia.
Thus began the era of the great Khans or warehouses. The spices and fabrics, the
gems and precious metals of the trade from the east were traded and re-loaded
for the trip across the mountains to the Mediterranean, while European
merchandise manufacturers were traded in the opposite direction. From 1516 Turkish
Ottoman forces took control of Syria. Aleppo was the seat of a Turkish governor
(Wali). Though it was often subject to the anarchy that beset other Ottoman
centers in times of weak government, commercially it thrived. During the first
Ottoman century, the earlier Venetian presence was complemented by French
(1535), English (1580), and Dutch (1612) factories and consulates established
under “capitulation” threats with the Ottomans. Aleppo became the principle
entrepot of the Levant, now unified in one power, a role that brought the
construction of the great souqs, which still grace, the city. The late
Ottoman period, an era of tentative reform and Westernization, saw some new
constructions of quarters such as Al-Aziziye and the linking of Aleppo to
Damascus by rail a part of the Hijaz project (1906) and to Istanbul (1912).
Ottoman rule lasted until Allied forces occupied Syria at the end of First World
War. The political separation of Turkey and Syria has brought a severing of much
of Aleppo’s natural economic hinterland to the north.The small hill on which
the citadel of Aleppo is located is a natural feature utilized as far back as
the Amorite federation under Yamkhad before the Hittite conquest in the 16th
century BC. The earliest remains unearthed, however, relate to the religious,
not military, use – two lions carved out of basalt, part of a Neo-Hittite
temple of the 10th century BC. The first citadel was probably constructed on
this site by the Seleucids (333 – 64 BC), separate from the ancient town to
the west. Under the Greeks, the local cult of the god Hadad, which had been
nurtured here since the time of the Amorites, was taken over and equated with
the Greek god, Zeus. It became the impregnable base for Muslim power in Northern
Syria. Towards the end of the 12th century, after Saladin’ successes against
the Crusaders and when the Ayyubid had established their control of Syria, it
was made the focal point of the new city established by Al-Malik Al-Zaher Ghazi
(r1193-1215). After the Mongol invasion the citadel was restored in 1292, only
to be razed again by the final wave led by Timor in 1400.
Aleppo Citadel
The small hill on which the citadel is located is a natural
feature utilized as far back as the Amorite federation under Yamkhad before the
Hittite conquest in the 16th century BC. The earliest remains unearthed,
however, relate to the religious, not military, use – two lions carved out of
basalt, part of a Neo-Hittite temple of the 10th century BC. The first
citadel was probably constructed on this site by the Seleucids (333 – 64 BC),
separate from the ancient town to the west. Under the Greeks, the local cult of
the god Hadad, which had been nurtured here since the time of the Amorites, was
taken over and equated with the Greek god, Zeus. It became the impregnable base
for Muslim power in Northern Syria. Towards the end of the 12th century, after
Saladin’ successes against the Crusaders and when the Ayyubid had established
their control of Syria, it was made the focal point of the new city established
by Al-Malik Al-Zaher Ghazi (r1193-1215). After the Mongol invasion the citadel
was restored in 1292, only to be razed again by the final wave led by Timor in
1400.
Bosra
Latin BOSTRA, Greek BOSORRA, OR BOSORA,
miles (108 km) south of Damascus. First a Nabataean city, it was conquered by
the Roman emperor Trajan, made the capital of the Roman province of Arabia, and
served as a key Roman fortress east of the Jordan River. The city eventually
achieved the title metropolis under the Roman emperor Philip, a native of the
city. It became the see of a bishop early in the 4th century but fell to the
Muslims in 634/635. The Crusaders captured it in the 12th century but failed to
hold it, and in the same century earthquakes, together with Turkish misrule,
hastened its decline. The monumental remains of temples, theatres, triumphal
arches, aqueducts, reservoirs, churches, mosques, and a 13th-century citadel
stretch over the modern site.
Crack Des Chevaliers
“Grace, wisdom and
beauty you may enjoy, but beware pride which alone can tarnish all the rest”
These are the words that are craved in
Latin inscription at the corner of the loggia. The Crack is one of the greatest
buildings of all times. It is a supreme example of Crusader castle building,
showing the full flowering of the Hospitallers’ style, which went far beyond
the solid adaptation of Byzantine models that had previously influenced the
castle of the first half of the 12th century. No matter how many times you visit
the great fortress, it never presents the same face. The site lies on a
hill, a position that had long been an important defensive site before the
Crusades developed it. The Emir of Homs constructed the first fortress on this
site in 1031 that installed a colony of Kurds. The crusades arrived
in February 1099 when Raymond Saint Gilles, Count of Toulouse, resumed his
journey south to Jerusalem after the Bloody taken in Maarat Al-Numan. The Emir
of Homs reoccupied this site when the Crusades passed on. It was not until 1110
that Tancred, Regent of Antioch, retook it. The Crusader castle survived two
major Muslim challenges in the late 12th century. Nur Al-Din was beaten beneath
the castle in 1163 by a strong coalition of Christian forces from Tripoli and
Antioch. In 1188, moving up the coast after his great victory over the kingdom
of Jerusalem at Hattin, Saladin by-passed the castle after a one-day trial
siege. During the 13th century, the crusades presence away from the coast
thinned out and the garrison at the Crack dwindled further with the lake of new
recruits from Europe. In 1276, the Mameluke under Sultan Baibars began a
concerted effort to assert Muslim supremacy in Syria. Baibars invested the Crack
in 1271 punching o hole in its outer wall bottling up the Hospitallers in the
inner defenses. The Hospitallers surrendered and were given safe conduct to
Tripoli. The Mameluke themselves used the castle as a base for a time, making
certain improvements to the structure. Considerable work has been done since
1946 to continue the work of restoring and safeguarding the fabric of he
building.
Damascus
The oldest inhabited city
of the world
The history of Damascus goes back to the earliest phase of
post - nomadic economic development – the fourth millennium or before –
making Damascus one of the oldest continuously inhabited urban centers in the
world. Damascus was able to guard its traditions perhaps more than any other of
the great cities of the Middle East. The first historical records of Dimashqa
(Damascus) are in the Mari tables (2500 BC), and a little later “Dimaski” in
the Ebla archives. Amorite settlement began around the beginning of the second
millennium Damascus came into the Egyptian sphere of influence and is mentioned
in the Amarna archives (14 C BC). The city fell to the Assyrians in 732 BC. In
572, the Neo-Babylonian King, Nebuchandnezzar, conquered Syria but the dynasty
was overwhelmed shortly in 539. it was then taken by the Persians when the
Persian king, Cyrus, took the whole region in the course of the sweep towards
the Aegean Alexandria’s great campaign brought Damascus under Greek control in
332 following the battle of Issus. The Greeks rule brought town planning to
Damascus (Damascus – Straight Street) but wrangling for control between
Seleucids and Ptolemies weakened Greek authority, and the lake of effective
administration by the 1st century BC introduced a phase of uncertainty including
a period of Nabatean domination. The Greeks rule was ended by the Roman conquest
in 64 BC.Roman rule lasted for 700 years. Damascus flourished under Roman rule.
From 37 BC to AD 54, the Romans accepted continued Nabatean control of Damascus.
It remained a city-state and kept its major trading role. Given the importance
of the E route via Palmyra. The cult centre, originally a BC Aramean temple
dedicated to the god Haded, was taken over the Romans through the
concretizations of Haded with Jupiter. From the 1st century AD the temple
compound was rebuilt to grandiose, imperial plan (Damascus – Umayyad Mosque).
The town plan was improved further, and the city was walled and furnished with
seven gates. Damascus was associated with the earliest phase of the spread of
Christianity and the mission of St. Paul. After the adoption of Christianity as
the imperial religion in the 4th century, the Temple of Jupiter-Hadad was
adapted to the cathedral of St. John. In 635-6 the city surrendered twice to a
Muslim army, the second time to Khalid Bin Al-Walid after a 6months siege. It
was made the capital of the Umayyad Empire under the 5th Caliph, Al-Moawiya, in
661. The Umayyad Empire survived only 90 years but it provided Damascus with the
most lasting and impressive monuments to its fame, the great Mosque of the
Umayyads, built by the Caliph Al-Walid after 706 on the site of the cathedral of
St. John. The Abbasids, successors to the Umayyads, based their rule in Baghdad
and deliberately neglected Damascus. The fall in populations and status
continued under the turbulent days (10 – 12C) of the competing Tulunid,
Ikshibib, Fatimid, Hamdanid and Seljuq dynasties, which struggled, for control
of Syria from their power in Cairo and Aleppo. There are virtually no remains in
Damascus of these centuries of disruption. The Muslim resistance to the Crusades
began the reversal of this decline. It brought a concentration on Damascus as a
bastion of the Muslim forces. Damascus was twice attacked by Crusades force
(1129, 1140). Under the Zengids, Nur Al-Din took the city more by charm than by
arms in 154. During his reign, but particularly under his successor Saladin
(1176 – 93), Damascus again became a political centre of note and its economy
recovered much of its vigor. Contemporary European travelers noted that the city
was considerably larger than either Paris or Florence. It attracted leading
theological and philosophical figures, as well as poets. Several Mongol
invasions (1260, 1299, 1400 under Timor) did much to raze the fabric of the
city. Gradually, however, the Mameluke dynasties based in Cairo, restored
prosperity to the city after 160 and put a final end to the Crusades presence in
Syria. The early phase of Mameluke rule was a golden age for Damascus,
particularly during the rule of Baibars (1260 – 77). Some of the most
resplendent monuments of Islamic Damascus date from these decades when the city
was the second capital of the Mameluke Empire. In 1516, the Ottoman Turks
conquered Syria and incorporated it into their empire. At first relativity
enlightened and progressive, Ottoman control varied in its effects with the
capacities of its Governors. Much of the importance of the city for the Ottoman
lay in its position as the last of the major populations centers where travelers
could provision themselves before the hajj towards Mecca. The 19th century was a
more troubled period. With local resentment against the Ottomans rising and the
city readily supported the cause of Muhammad Ali who had led a revolt against
Istanbul from Cairo. Direct Ottoman rule was resorted in 1840 but, in the face
of rise of Arab nationalism in the late 19th century, continued Turkish rule had
little to offer except stagnation in economic terms.
The evidence of the history of the city can still be traced
in its topography and hence the residual broad divisions into quarters still
housing significant minority population: Christians in the E quarter: Jews south
of the central part of Straight Street: Shiites to the north east of the Umayyad
Mosque.
Damascus
Landmarks
The Umayyad Mosque
As the Muslim population of Damascus grew, the Caliph
Al-Walid (r 705 – 15) recognized the need for a congregational assembly area
capable of accommodating the entire community. The obvious place was the
Greco-Roman temple compound occupied by the Christian church. The work was
commissioned in 708 and construction finished in 714-15. The Caliph used local
Syrian craftsmen to execute much of the glorious mosaic work, which survives
only in part. The prayer hall was based on the mosque built by the Prophet in
Medina. The mosque has survived the intervening 1200 years with surprising
integrity in spit successive invasions, Mongol sackings and the ravages of
earthquakes and fire.Recently his Holiness John Pope Paul II was the guest of
Syria on a historic visit, which is considered a great landmark in Syria’s
modern history.Pope John Paul II has become the first pope to enter an Islamic
mosque during his ground breaking pilgrimage to Syria.
"Peace be unto you all," the Pope greeted the crowd
in Arabic on a sunny day. The Pope moved slowly off the altar stand, at one
point pausing for several minutes. He then climbed back into his Pope mobile and
rode past cheering crowds to the Greek Catholic Cathedral in the old walled
city.
Ananias Church
A Roman soldier was instructed to go to Damascus to arrest
followers of Jesus. As he approached the city, “a light from heaven shone all
around him”. He fell to the ground and then heard a voice saying, “ Saul,
Saul why are thee persecuting me?”. Saul was blind and was led into Damascus
by his companions.At the same time, a Christian called Ananias was directed by a
vision to go to a house in Straight Street, where he met Saul, sheltered him in
his house and initiated him into Christianity. Saul began preaching in the
synogues, proclaiming “Jesus the Son of God”. Aware of a plot by Jews to
kill him, Saul (St. Paul) evaded Capture by having him-self lowered over the
Walls of Damascus in a basket. The first site associated with these events is
the Chapel of St. Ananias. On the right part of the house of Ananias was Saul
took shelter.
Eastern Gate, Bab Sharqi
This is the oldest existent monument in Damascus and the only
one of the Roman Gates of the city to preserve its original form. The gate
comprises a triple passageway, the central one being for wheeled traffic, the
outer two corresponding with the arcaded passages along the street reserved for
pedestrian. The treatment of the facades is rather plain but well balanced. The
gateway probably constructed in the period of Septiminus Severus or Caracalla
(late 2 C, early 3 C). it is through this gateway that the Arab commander Khalid
Bin Al-Walid entered Damascus in 636.
Azem Palace
One of the most famous buildings of the Old Damascus. Built
by Asa’ad Pasha al-Azem, governor of Damascus, in 1749. The palace was used as
a residence of the Higher Commissioner during the early days of French mandate
in 1920. It was later bought by the French authorities and changed into an
educational institute. The palace was severely damaged by French bombardment
during the Syrian Revolt of 1925. Many parts of it were later rebuilt. In 1954,
the Palace was turned into a museum of Syrian traditions. It is a typical
example of traditional Syrian architecture and is a main tourist attraction in
Damascus.
Hama
“Grace, wisdom and beauty you may
enjoy, but beware pride which alone can tarnish all the rest”
Hama enjoyed a reputation as one of the more charming of the
Syrian towns, more successful than most in making of its environment a pleasant
and picturesque setting through the use of the Orontes River as the city’s
lungs and cooling device. Constant settlement has effaced much of the remains of
previous occupation and virtually nothing survives of Hama during the Bronze and
Iron Ages, or during the Seleucid, Roman, Byzantine and early Arab Empires. The
city was destroyed by the Assyrians in 720 and, like the rest of Syria, came
under Assyrian and Persian Rule. The Ayyubid period was particularly prosperous
and saw the construction of the first of the existing Nawaier (water wheels),
reconditioned and supplemented in the Mameluke and Ottoman periods.
Apamea
From Apamea, nestled on the E side of the Orontes Plain
before the green starts to fade towards the desert to the east, you look out on
a stunning sight. The early Seleucids chose well in selecting this spot.
It is one of the four cities founded by Seleucus I Nicator at the
beginning of the 3rd century BC, the name Apamea was adopted to commemorate his
Persian wife. It became one of the main four Seleucid state in Syria. In 64 BC,
Apamea was taken by the Romans under Pompey and its citadel was razed. Under the
Roman rule it was latter developed as a military base. The theatre, bath,
temples and villa were constructed during the town’s period of peak
prosperity, the boom years of the 2nd century AD. The first stage of ambitious
reconstruction properly came as a result of imperial patronage, when Trajan
ordered the rebuilding of the city after a severe earthquake in 115. the
colonnaded main street was completed in its present form during the reign of
Marcus Aurelius (161 –80) and served as n axis with each side markets lined
with stalls and shaded arcades. Apamea remained a center of considerable
importance into the Byzantine period when it became a base for
adherents of Monophisitism. It was mad the capital of Syria
Secunda province in the early 5th century and was the seat of bishop. The
Persians sacked and burnt the city in 573 during the troubled century, which
also saw a succession of major earthquakes. The Persians again held it from 612
to 628 and the Byzantine “liberation” came just in time to see its fall to
the Arab decade later. It fell with out resistance, the local populations –
largely converted to Monophisitism by the mid 6th century – already resentful
of Byzantine heavy –handed imposition of orthodoxy. The town was under
Crusader control from 1106 until 1149 when it was retaken by Nur Al-Din. In
1157, a major earthquake destroyed the town. The settlement within the citadel,
however, survived and the 16th century mosque and caravanserai indicate the role
it played as a staging post on the pilgrimage from Istanbul to Mecca.
Maaloula
Maaloula is some 50 kilometers from Damascus. The first part
of the route, a steep climb all the way, is by motorway, then, on top of the
limestone plateau, it follows a narrow road at the foot of a line of cliffs at
an altitude of more than 1,600 meters. The light is blinding, the landscape is
bare, there is not a single tree. There are only a few crawling vines here and
there to relieve the stony ochre landscape, brilliant in the relentless
sunshine. Suddenly a narrow fissure appears and widens soon into a deep valley.
There are large patches of green again; fig trees sprout from the slopes; there
are gardens surrounded by apricots; slender poplar trees appear - an oasis after
the rigor of a desert crossing. Around the last bend in the road Maaloula
appears. To call it a honeycomb is really too hackneyed. Perhaps as many as a
couple of hundred little cubes of masonry, all close together, seem to cling to
the cliff - piled against it up to the point where it becomes a sheer wall. They
are plastered in yellow, blue and sometimes mauve, making a bright contrast with
the ochre of the rock, fissured in great dark stripes. Tiny windows and openings
and little balconies on rickety wooden beams give some contrasting shadow to
what seems like a vast. At the foot of this town the road divides. The left-hand
branch leads up a steep ravine and emerges on a plateau planted with vines and
fruit trees. A low, blue-domed building houses a small community of monks who
work are peasants and in their vineyards, and have a particular devotion to
Saint Sergius: Mar Sarkis. A low doorway - defensive as well as being a sign
humility - leads to the monastery and the Byzantine church, which are of little
interest apart from the impressive view they afford of the country below. The
right-hand branch of the road at the foot of the town leads up the slope; a
stream gushes down a cleft at our feet and ahead there is good close view of the
jumbled pile of houses. The imposing building to the right, at the foot of the
cliffs, is another convert, dedicated this time to Saint Thecla, Mar Takla, a
native of Asia Minor. Deeply moved by Saint Paul’s epistles, Mar Takla
converted to Christianity. Disowned by her father, she went into exile and found
asylum in Syria where she lived a mountain cavern in the Qalamoun mountain. She
devoted her life to prayer and to others, which won her the respect, admiration
and gratitude of the region’s rural inhabitants. When she died, the cavern
became a holy place. Today it is open to tourists. A series of steps and
terraces leads to the various levels of the building and to a modern domed
church of no artistic interest; from there we can reach a grotto where the water
dripping from the roof is said to possess miraculous powers.The community has
another feature that will interest the visitor. Both men and women in Maaloula
understand Arabic, the national language taught in all the schools, but continue
to speak among themselves in the old Syrian dialect known to philologists as
"Western Aramaic", an extremely ancient language current in the Middle
east during the first millenium before Christ. Two books of the Bible, Daniel
and Esdras, were written in Western Aramaic. It was also the language of Christ.
The Lord’s Prayer, the prayer of Christians all over the world, was first
spoken in Aramaic; the monks of Mar Sarkis have made a recording of it in this
language for visitors.
Palmyra
A
superior place were art and history comes together
Palmyra is one of the great sites of
the ancient world. The remain of this Oasis city, midway between the
Mediterranean seaboard and the thin cultivate zone of the Euphrates, seem
suspended in time in this harsh desert environment. A visit to Palmyra is an
experience, which alone makes the trip to Syria worthwhile. Palmyra owes its
origins to the extensive oasis to the south of the ruins. The dates, olive and
pomegranate orchards are watered by underground spring emerging from the
mountains that enclose it to the north and south. It is mentioned in the
archives of the period from Mari (18th century BC). The Semitic name Tadmor is
mentioned in Assyrian archives. The Seleucids seem to have ignored it and the
early Romans found it an elusive prize. It was probably fully integrated into
the Province of Syria by the reign of Nero (54-68). The coalition of Arab
interest between Homs and Palmyra was formed to secure a new short cut across
the desert. It was an instant success. Much of the trade between the
Mediterranean and the East flowed through Palmyra. In the second half of the 3rd
century, however, the rulers of Palmyra began to reassert their independence.
Partly this reflected the breakdown of central control throughout the Empire
following successive power struggles in Rome. A Palmyrene leader, Septimius
Odenathus, rose to prominence as the local strong man by seeking and exploring
Rome’s favor. He was apparently put in charge of Rome’s legions in the area
when appointed Consul and governor of Syria Phoenice (256/7) by the Emperor
Valerian (Emperor 253 –60), at a time of intense Sasanian pressure. In 267/8
Odenathus was murdered and his wife Zenobia, was determined to realize on her
husband’s inheritance and to by-pass the constructions on Palmyra’s
commercial interest resulting from Sasanian control of the Tigris/Euphrates
mouth. She asserted Palmyene power westwards, taking Bosra and venturing as far
as Egypt in 269/70. It seems for a time she entertained ambitions of sharing the
Roman world with the new Emperor, Aurelian (270/5). She with the title of
Augusta would reign in the East leaving the Western Mediterranean provinces to
him.At the height of its prosperity in the 2nd century, Palmyra was a center
rivaling Antioch, at least in economic importance. It was particularly favored
by Hadrian during his tour of the Eastern provinces in AD 129, being declared by
him a free city and renamed Palmyra Hadriana. In 194 AD the city was transferred
to the new province of Syria Phoenice. By 212 AD under Caracalla, the city was
declared a Roman colony. The response was in 272 when Aurelian recovered
Anatolia and Antioch defeating a large Palmyrene force out side Emesa (Homs). He
went to attack Palmyra; Queen Zenobia attempted to flee eastwards but was
captured and taken to Rome with gold chains and exotic jewellery. Aurelian
allowed his troops to massacre the Palmyrene people indiscriminately and sack
much of the city. Even Bell Temple was pillaged, its treasures confiscated.
Roman control now became tighter, Palmyra becoming even less a trading center
and more a strategic asset securing Rome’s eastern frontiers. The city was
expanded under Diocletain (284 – 305) and walled against the Sasanian threat.
In the Byzantine period, several churches were constructed and the walls further
strengthened under Justinian (527 – 65). It a taken by Khalid Ibn Al-Walid,
one of the military leaders under the first Caliph, Abu Bakr, in 634 but later
played only a minor role in the Islamic period.
Seidnaya
To begin with there is the same plateau landscape like that
around Maaloula. The road follows, at some distance, the rocky mountains of the
Qalamoun range. Gradually the spares cornlands give way to vineyards and olive
groves. Halboun, near Seidnaya, has been famous since ancient times for the
quality of its wines (they are even given a favorable mention in the Bible). The
town of Seidnaya is spread out over a hillside. While lacking the exceptional
appeal of Maaloula it is however a fine prospect - though somewhat spoiled by a
rash of concrete sheds and other erections… The squareish houses, with high
airy arcaded fronts, rise like giant steps up the rocky hill, which is crowned
by an imposing building rather like a fortress, despite its colonnade galleries
and the little blue domes indicating the presence of a Byzantine church.Seidnaya
has indeed grown up around an important convent which has been famous throughout
the Christian East, ever since its foundation in 547. Dedicated to the Blessed
Virgin (Seydnâtâ, Seydâ Nâyâ, means "Our Lady, Notre Dame" in
Syriac), it contains one of the four paintings of the Virgin attributed to Saint
Luke the Evangelist. This is called in Syriac, Chahoura or Chagoura (Vhahira in
Arabic): the Illustrious, the Celebrated, the Most Famous, the Best Known. There
are still some fifty sisters living in the convent; they belong to the Orthodox
rite and come under the Patriarch of Antioch who has his headquarters in
Damascus. Tourists are admitted to the chapel containing the painting of the
Virgin attributed to Saint Luke. A forgotten verse from the Book of Exodus
(Chap. 3, v.5), over the entrance, recalls a commandment lost to the Catholic
Church but still current in Islam: "Put off thy shoes from off thy feet,
for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground". The walls of a tiny,
low-ceiling room, lit only by candles, are covered with very old icons.
Unfortunately only the silver frames surrounding the paintings can be seen - the
paint itself is so dirty that it is impossible to make out the pictures. The
painting by Saint Luke is half-hidden in a kind of tabernacle. The main
pilgrimage to Seidnaya takes places on the 8th of September. Visitors can buy
lace and embroidery made here by the Community.
