Exploring the Religions of Syria

Overview

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Bosra: Roman and Muslim ruins as well as a perfectly preserved Roman theater.Sayyidna Zeinab Shrine: Shia pilgrimage site that will leave you in religious awe.Deir Mar Mousa: A hidden monastery tucked deep in the mountains. A spot of pure religious tranquillity.Sayidnaya and Maaloula: Syria's Christian heartland. Visit monasteries and learn some Aramaic.Jebel Arab: The heart of Syria's most mysterious and misunderstood sect, the Druze.Quick Tips: All of these sights are doable as day trips from Damascus and in fact the only one that I would actually suggest spen...Read More

Bosra: Roman and Muslim ruins as well as a perfectly preserved Roman theater.

Sayyidna Zeinab Shrine: Shia pilgrimage site that will leave you in religious awe.

Deir Mar Mousa: A hidden monastery tucked deep in the mountains. A spot of pure religious tranquillity.

Sayidnaya and Maaloula: Syria's Christian heartland. Visit monasteries and learn some Aramaic.

Jebel Arab: The heart of Syria's most mysterious and misunderstood sect, the Druze.

Quick Tips:

All of these sights are doable as day trips from Damascus and in fact the only one that I would actually suggest spending a night (or two) at is Deir Mar Mousa simply so that you can get the full experience. All of the places in this journal are of religious interest and so I recommend reading up a bit on the religions of Syria and their history before you dive into them. And, as with all my journals on Syria, I suggest, that if you are serious about your Syria travels and really want to get deep into the sights of the country, purchase Ross Burns' Monuments of Syria. It is the definitive guide on what there is to see in Syria.

Best Way To Get Around:

For Sayyidna Zeinab, you can get there by taxi for about 100SYP from the center of Damascus. To the rest of the sights (besides Mar Mousa) there are direct minibuses/buses from Damascus, although they leave from various stations around the city and sometimes those change. So the best thing to do is just ask someone where you are staying and they should be able to direct you.

For Mar Mousa you will have to take a minibus to al-Nebk and then from there pick up a taxi and negotiate a fare for the 20 minute or so ride to the monastery. This will depend on your negotiating skills. You could probably get it for , but my bet is that they will ask for right off.

Also, as with my other Syria journals, I recommend car rental if you have the money (-60/day) and aren't terribly afraid of driving in Syria. The roads and signage are quite good and driving is only really frustrating in the large cities. Read Less

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Maaloula

Attraction | "The Churches of Maaloula"

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Maaloula is Sayidnaya’s older and slightly more isolated sister. Located deep in a crevasse in the Anti-Lebanon mountains, Maaloula has been isolated and protected from the turmoil of the Middle East for centuries, as is evidenced by the fact that it is one of the few places on Earth where Aramaic (the language of Jesus) is still spoken by the population. It is a place of deep religious history, home to one of Syria’s venerated saints, St. Thakla, but even if you aren’t on a pilgrimage, the charm of the town itself is enough to warrant a visit. The houses, most of which are painted a light blue, climb of the sides of the mountains and push back into the deep ravine after which the town is named....Read More

Maaloula is Sayidnaya’s older and slightly more isolated sister. Located deep in a crevasse in the Anti-Lebanon mountains, Maaloula has been isolated and protected from the turmoil of the Middle East for centuries, as is evidenced by the fact that it is one of the few places on Earth where Aramaic (the language of Jesus) is still spoken by the population. It is a place of deep religious history, home to one of Syria’s venerated saints, St. Thakla, but even if you aren’t on a pilgrimage, the charm of the town itself is enough to warrant a visit. The houses, most of which are painted a light blue, climb of the sides of the mountains and push back into the deep ravine after which the town is named.

The first stop for most on a trip to Maaloula is the Convent of St Thakla.

Saint Thakla, a disciple of St. Paul, was one of the first martyrs of the Christian faith and the Syrians adore her. The convent, built on the mountain where she is supposed to be buried, contains a fantastic chapel decorated in vibrant frescoes as well as a watery cave with a lone tree growing out of it that contains a small prayer space with an icon of St. Thakla. As with all Christian shrines in the area, the removal of shoes is mandatory, as is silence, but you aren’t expected to go through the rituals of crossing yourself of kissing the icon. Ouside of the shrine there is a small spring with a sign in Arabic telling you that this is holy water blessed by St. Thakla. Whether or not you buy any of it, the sheer dedication of the pilgrims you will encounter on the way is impressive.

Behind the convent is a large rock passageway that has been carved out by water over the years. It is full of small caves in which monks used to live. At the entrance of the ravine a sign in Arabic reminds you that “Cleanliness is Godliness,” so don’t litter. Unfortunately, people don’t listen.

Far more impressive, and my favorite part of Maaloula, is the Church of Mar Sergus (St. Sergius). Sergius is the poor sap from Resafeh (in Eastern Syria), who was forced to run to Damascus with nails in his feet. The Church is a fantastic monument that was built on the site of a pagan temple, and that is what makes this church so unique. The church is so old that it predates the Council of Nicea (325 AD), as is evidenced by the fact that the altar is round and not square. Round altars were deemed Satanic after Nicea. The nuns of the church, some of whom speak English, will show you around and then after let you sample some of their sweet wine and wonderful honey. Read Less

Member Rating 4 out of 5 on November 4, 2005

Maaloula
Maaloula
Damascus, Syria

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Christmas Among Monks

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I consider myself an okay Christian, more spiritual than ritual. I don’t usuall spend my Sundays at church but make my appearances on Christmas, Easter, and various other holidays, but after a week of traveling around Syria during Christmas, I was ready to give up my worldly possessions and become a monk. I developed a whole new appreciation for my religion and discovered things in myself that I had never thought possible, and I owe it all to a Syrian Christians and the most magical and spiritual Christmas I had ever had in my life.It was late December, and winter in Syria was in full swing. A biting cold was in the air and the clouds were flirting with the idea of snow (yes, it does...Read More

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Bosra: Where Muhammed Met Buhira

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About an hour and a half to the south and east of Damascus lies the small city of Bosra. Not to be confused with the headline-grabbing city of the same name farther east in Iraq, this Bosra is an ancient city dating back to Roman times, and a city with a rich and complex history. Once an important center for the Nabateans (the guys who built Petra), Bosra was finally conquered by the Romans in 106 AD and was immediately made the capital of the newly established Provincia Arabia. Under the Romans, it flourished as an intellectual, agricultural, cultural, and trade capital, even producing the only Arab Roman emperor in history, Philip The Arab, who took power in 244, a...Read More

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The Shia Shrine of Sayyida Zeinab

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If you spend any amount of time around the maHatat Hijaaz (The Hijaz Railway station) and Martyrs Square, as I did, because it is where I lived, you will undoubtedly notice a few things. One is the small number of touts asking you if you want a shaghala (lit. “female worker”, fig. “prostitute”), as this is Damascus’ not-so-secret red light district, where brothels disguised as hotels are frequented by Saudi patrons. The second is the insane number of hotels flying Iranian flags and sporting Farsi names like bustaan or faradoos. In front of these hotels, day and night, you will see buses pulling up, spitting out clouds of smoke, and dropping of loads of hunched over ...Read More

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Sayidnaya: Christians, Muslims, and Mary

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In the mountains to northwest of Damascus lie the towns of Sayidnaya and Maaloula, the centerpieces to Syria’s Christian heartland. The first one you come to is Sayidnaya, the larger and more visited (by Syrians) of the two due simply to Notre Dame du Sayidnaya, a legendary chapel known since before the Crusades for its holy miracles and its painting of Mary allegedly done by St. Luke, but there are plenty of other convents, monasteries and churches to be found as well.Getting to Sayidnaya is an easy minibus ride from Damascus and lakes little over an hour. It’ll drop you in the center of town from where you can climb the hillside to the Convent. The structure of the conve...Read More

In the mountains to northwest of Damascus lie the towns of Sayidnaya and Maaloula, the centerpieces to Syria’s Christian heartland. The first one you come to is Sayidnaya, the larger and more visited (by Syrians) of the two due simply to Notre Dame du Sayidnaya, a legendary chapel known since before the Crusades for its holy miracles and its painting of Mary allegedly done by St. Luke, but there are plenty of other convents, monasteries and churches to be found as well.

Getting to Sayidnaya is an easy minibus ride from Damascus and lakes little over an hour. It’ll drop you in the center of town from where you can climb the hillside to the Convent. The structure of the convent itself is a rather modern one, although a place of worship has existed here since the reign of Justinian in the 6th century. The entrance is through a steep set of stairs (although an elevator is available) that take you through a passageway and into the courtyard of the convent.

Depending on what day you arrive, the number of people accompanying you will vary, but you will never be alone. This shrine is one of the largest pilgrimage centers in Syria. It not only constantly draws Christians from all over Syria, Lebanon and Jordan, but it also draws crowds of Muslims who come, mostly on Friday, to venerate Mary. If, however, you happen to be in Syria on September 8th, then you will have the occasion to come to Sayidnaya to celebrate festival of Mary. The town is flooded with Christians and Muslims alike who gather on the hills and celebrate into the night, dotting the countryside with campfires.

While the convent itself is nice, the real prize, and the reason everyone comes to Sayidnaya is to see the painting of Mary. It is hidden in a cave in the back of the convent, through a small entranceway. A sign on the outside (only in Arabic) reminds you to remove your shoes. On the way in you pass by various crutches, bandages, and remnants of other answered prayers. Eventually you reach a small room, decorated in paintings, but with the painting of Mary at the center and a small bowl of oil in front of her. Visitors will cross themselves upon entry, kiss the painting, cross themselves some more and then have one of the nuns anoint them with some of the oil. The nun will even dip a piece of cotton in oil for you to take home to someone who couldn’t make it. Once respects are paid, visitors cross themselves and leave.

Although the convent is the main focus of pilgrims to Sayidnaya, as just a traveler you may find Sayidnaya’s other sights more interesting. One of them is the Chapel of St. Peter, a converted Roman temple and the oldest church in town. The other, my personal favorite, is the Convent of the Cherubim, only accessible by a long winding road that climbs high into the Anti-Lebanon mountains, the convent looks more like what a convent should be, isolated, on the top of a mountain and (in winter) covered in snow and cold. When you arrive on the grounds there will likely be nobody about, so what you need to do is just knock on the entrance and one of the monks will open up, likely it will be an affable monk with a long dark beard named Efram. Efram speaks no English, so unless you have some Arabic skills, communicating may be hard, but he’ll still be delighted to show you around the grounds.

The convent’s main sight is the Chapel of St. Thomas, another converted Roman temple that still has its columns. The inside is decorated with frescos and icons depicting scenes from the Bible. Outside of the church, Efram, will show you numerous caves that used to be the cells in which monks lived (the now have small apartments) as well as the large cross on the top of the mountain from which you can get spectacular views of the Syrian desert and the Anti-Lebanon mountain range.

After the tour (which I shared with two Lebanese guys from Montreal), Efram invited us in for tea and cookies and proceeded to tell me how wonderful my name was. “Nathanael,” he said giving it its beautiful Semitic pronunciation “is such a fantastic name. He was the first man to believe that Jesus was the Son of God without asking for proof. It’s a good name to have.” It was good to hear. Having traveled extensively in the Arab world I was used to Arabs bungling my name… “Nathna? Natooo? Naytnal?” But among Arab Christians it was always a hit. Read Less

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Jebel Arab: Land of the Druze

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The Druze are the Mormons of the Middle East, or perhaps the Scientologists, members of a sect that most people know nothing about and about whom all sorts of wild stories have come about. The Druze arose out of Ismaili Shia Islam in the 10th century under the ruler of the Fatimid Caliph Hakim. The Druze believe that Hakim was the incarnation of God and the religion grew out of that, drawing heavily on Christianity and Plato. They maintain all the prophets of Christianity and Islam but have a large streak of Gnosticism. For centuries the Druze community was persecuted for their beliefs that most considered to be heretical. Thus they practiced the Islamic doctrine of taqiyyeh, concealing one’s...Read More

The Druze are the Mormons of the Middle East, or perhaps the Scientologists, members of a sect that most people know nothing about and about whom all sorts of wild stories have come about. The Druze arose out of Ismaili Shia Islam in the 10th century under the ruler of the Fatimid Caliph Hakim. The Druze believe that Hakim was the incarnation of God and the religion grew out of that, drawing heavily on Christianity and Plato. They maintain all the prophets of Christianity and Islam but have a large streak of Gnosticism. For centuries the Druze community was persecuted for their beliefs that most considered to be heretical. Thus they practiced the Islamic doctrine of taqiyyeh, concealing one’s religion to avoid persecution. Because of this, the Druze religion has always been secretive and among the Druze the people are even divided into two groups, uqqal (knowledgeable) and juhhal (ignorant). Those who are “knowledgeable” have access to all the secrets of the religion and form the religious and political backbone of the community. Today there are large numbers in Syria, Israel, and Lebanon. Most Druze consider themselves Arab, and thus most Israeli Druze, most of whom live in the occupied Golan Heights, stay loyal to Syria. Inside unoccupied Syria, however, most of the Druze live in the area known as the Jebel Arab. They make up one of the wealthiest communities in Syria but are noticeably insular, and thus many people look at them slightly suspiciously.

The Jebel Arab lies only an hour and a half to the south of Damascus and is a small hilly land that rises out of the Harran plains. Heading into the Jebel al-Arab reminds me why I love Syria so much. It is such a diverse country, full of so many communities, that each area of the country is like a whole new country with its own traditions and even with their own accents. One of the first things you may notice when entering Druze country is the complete lack of minarets. The Druze do not build traditional mosques, and the call to prayer is not done. Instead you will recognize houses of worship as discreet buildings flying the druze flag.

Another thing you will immediately notice is that in general Druze are a lot lighter. Many have red hair, freckles, or blue eyes.

The capital of Druze country is Suweida, a town that is worth a visit for three things: its wonderful museum, excellent kebobs, and ubiquitous arak (anis-based spirit). Most people who make it into the Jebel Arab stop here, but the region has much more to offer. One of these is the town of Shahba, a town that contains a plethora of basalt Roman ruins and a wonderful mosaic museum. The main attraction of Shahba is the towering Roman baths

, but there is also a nice Roman theater. Perhaps the most interesting thing, though, is how Shahba, a small down in rural Syria can feel more modern that parts of Damascus. Part of it has to do with the wealth of the Druze. The other part is that the Druze, like most minorities in Syria (i.e. Druze, Alawis, Christians, Ismailis), carry a bit of a more liberal air. The women are dressed in the most stylish fashions available in Syria, trotting around on stone streets in high heels. But even with the modern influence, you can still spot many elder Druze women wearing the traditional white scarf and veil that they are known for.

Nearby to Shahba is Qanawaat, another small town that contains a magnificent old basilica,

as well as a nice Roman temple. Outside the temple there are a few vendors selling goods, but other than that there is no trace of tourism.

The Jebel Arab do not contain the most impressive ruins in Syria and are probably not worth a visit unless you have a lot of time, but they do provide an interesting insight into one of Syria’s most interesting minorities, the Druze. And one thing is for sure: you will likely be the only one there and be treated as a welcome guest by curious Druze wondering why you are there. It’s also likely that you’ll get a few stares, just as did when I sitting on the side of the road when of a whole school full of teenage girls came running by giggling, smiling, laughing, and daring each other to come and talk to me. Two finally did, shouting out “Hello” in English, but when I replied in Arabic, they got scared and ran away. Read Less

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Damascus Journals

Exploring the Religions of Syria