This post covers our drive from Damascus to Aleppo in Syria via Maaloula and Homs with detailed visits in both towns.
What a day. This day truly defined the early Christian significance of Syria. It was a long day starting at 0930 and ending at 2100. In that time we visited very significant places and drove from the middle of the country to the top.
There is no doubt about it. Syria is mostly desert with vast rocky hills and very few trees. I was surprised by how many abandoned villages we passed. It reminded me very much of Sudan but with more villages.
The more I see of Syria, the more I like it. Yes - Syria is very troubled and in bad shape but its rich ancient history still stands. I also must say that I feel completely safe seeing its wonders. Syria is a country of many “firsts”: the first alphabet, the first musical note, the first modern Parliament, the first Christian Church 59AD,
Maaloula (Pop 2,762, Elev 1500m, Founded 1838) is famous for two very important monasteries and a hotel that was badly damaged by the crisis of 2012-2017. Maaloula is also one of only 5 villages in Syria and the World where most inhabitants speak Aramaic as their everyday language, which is the language that Jesus Christ spoke. Amazing. The Saint Sarkis (St Sergius) Monastery is one of the oldest surviving monasteries in Syria. It was built on the site of a pagan temple in 325AD. It was damaged in several conflicts and repaired. Saint Sergius was a Roman soldier who was executed for his Christian beliefs. The monastery has two of the oldest icons in the world, one depicting the Last Supper. We saw them. We also heard a local lady recite The Lord’s Prayer in Aramaic – it was truly moving for me to hear the exact words Christ spoke to hundreds of people on the Mount of Olives. The Greek Orthodox Convent of Saint Thecla holds the relics of St Thecla, who was a pupil of St Paul the Apostle. According to later legend not in the Acts, Thecla was being pursued by soldiers of her father to capture her because of her Christian faith. She came upon a mountain, and after praying, the mountain split open and let her escape through. The town gets its name from this gap or entrance in the mountain. We walked through this gap to get to the convent. I had the honour to meet the Igoumeni Justina who spoke some Greek and she chanted the Apolytikion of St Thecla and then I chanted the Apolytikion of St George in thanks and as a cultural exchange. The bombed Hotel Safir was indeed an eye opener and Rami explained to me the originals of the conflict, which you shall see in the film.
Homs (Pop 775,404, Elev 501m, Founded 2000BC) was the first city to be bombed, decimated and occupied by ISIS. Before the Syrian Crisis, Homs was a major industrial centre and the third-largest city in Syria after Aleppo to the north and the capital Damascus to the south. Its population reflects Syria's general religious diversity, composed of Sunni and Alawite Muslims, and Christians. There are a number of historic mosques and churches in the city, and it is close to the Krak des Chevaliers castle, a World Heritage Site. In Homs visited: the Syriac Orthodox Church of Um Al Zinnar which contains a piece of the actual Belt of The Blessed Virgin Mary and underneath the church is the first Christian Cave Church built in 59AD by the disciples of St Paul. It was a very moving place. We then visited the Khaled Bin Walid Mosque & Tomb which is very much revered by the Muslim world. It was destroyed by ISIS and rebuilt new. It is surrounded by an entire destroyed suburb called Khalidieya, part of which we walked through. I felt I was on a movie set of every war movie ever made. It was an eye opener and reset my frame of reference – here I am complaining of weak internet in Damascus and no less than 15 million Syrian people were made homeless between 2012 and 2018 out of current population of 19 million starting in this place in Homs.
Our drive to Aleppo took close to 3hrs over 190km of vast desert. We witnessed a wonderful sunset whilst sipping on Arak (like Ouzo) purchased by Ray, one of our Irish fellow travellers. On our way to Aleppo we passed by the city of Idleb which is where ISIS and other terrorist factions were based during the crisis and only 15km from here they now exist with negotiations from the current government to either leave or surrender completely and integrate. Local news is that they are likely to leave and head to Turkey who is currently funding them outside Idleb.
Our hotel in Aleppo is situated on the central town square with great internet but for some strange reason my GOOGLE BLOGGER site would not let me login or did it display my photos for past posts. I suspect that it is blocked for Syria and so I need to resort to email to share this blog text and accompanying photos – I will need to update blog when I get back to Beirut. Bugger !!!
Please enjoy the wonderful ancient Byzantine images of today…
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