Seidnayya!
On foot in Seidnayya.
The view from St. George's.
St. George kills the dragon.
Entrance to the cave.
St. George's church.
Peter takes in the view.
The healing cave.
Inside St. George's church.
The resurrection. Jesus tears Adam and Eve out of the grave.
Our Lady of Seidnayya sits atop the cliffs.
A poster of Bashar (and a statue of his father) on a building next to Seidnayya's only mosque. The light print says, "We all love you." The dark print says, "Congratulations."
Bell tower at Our Lady of Seidnayya Monastery.
Mosaic of Jesus and Mary.
Inside the monastery (it's big.)
View from the wall of Our Lady of Seidnayya.
The towers of Our Lady of Seidnayya.
The Monastery of Saint Thomas and Cherubim Monastery, seen from Our Lady.
My new friends.
Seidnayya.
Oh yeah...
The elevator.
The base of Our Lady.
Seidnayya's mosque.
Streets of Seidnayya.
On the road to St. Thomas'.
Thunderstorm!
Christmas lights: always appropiate.
St. Thomas'. This church predates Christ (it was originally a pagan temple).
The old pagan sacrificial pit lies between the pews.
2,300 years old.
"Incredulite de Thomas." Spanish? French?
Caves near St. Thomas.
Sacrificial pits in the cave.
Cherubim Monastery.
Another B.C. church.
November 14: Leo's grandfather's house in Maroneh, a town near Seidnayya.
Maroneh.
Catholic church in Maroneh.
Streets of Maroneh.
Mountains near Maroneh.
The air up here is so fresh.
Olive orchards.
I've seen this decal multiple times in Syria.
Seidnayya lies beyond these hills.
Leo's aunt drives us to Seidnayya.
Signs on the road to Seidnayya.
At the Monastery of Our Lady of Seidnayya. According to the story, this image of the Virgin Mary was formed when an infirm woman stumbled on the steps of the church and asked for Mary's help to reach the Monastery. Oil came up from the stone steps and healed her, and left this image.
Cage protecting the image of the Virgin Mary.
The story of the origins of the Our Lady Monastery. (You can read it on my blog.)
The resurrection.
A shrine to Hafiz al-Assad in Seidnayya.
Inside the Church of the Blessed Lady at the Our Lady of Seidnayya Monastery.
The dome.
The door of the Church of the Blessed Lady.
The Virgin Mary commands Emperor Justinian to build the Seidnayya Monastery.
Justinian and his wife present the monastery to Mary.
Inside the Seidnayya Monastery.
I took my Dad here when he came to visit.
The rear side of the monastery, with an anicent cavern carved into the cliff.
Inside the cavern.
Greek writing above the cavern.
Across the valley: the Holy Shrine of St. Takla.
Dad: "Mom would be having a fit right now."
The Seidnayya Monastery, seen from the Takla Shrine.
At the Takla Shrine.
Me at the Shrine of St. Takla.
Downward-sloping road in Seidnayya.
Ruins of the holy shrine of St. Moses.
Entrance to the Cherubim Monastery.
The Qalamou (Anti-Lebanon) Mountain Range, as seen from the Cherubim Monastery.
Snow!
The ancient Cherubim monastery.
Me and Dad on the mountain.
Entrance of the ancient Cherubim monastery at sunsent.
Dad and brother George, inside an ancient (Stone Age?) carved hall George knows about.
Father Mayas and Khalil, in front of a church in Seidnayya.
An old school in Seidnayya.
The Virgin Mary.
The Seidnayya valley.
Entrance to Brother George's cave.
Inside Brother George's cave.
The St. Thomas Monastery.
St. Thomas.
Thomas reaches out to touch Jesus' wounds.
The western valley.
The Qalamun mountain range, across a valley to the west of Seidnayya.
Ma'aret Seidnayya: Brother George lives in this village below Seidnayya proper.
The view from George's roof.
Seidnayya, seen from Ma'aret Seidnayya. On the top left peak, the Cheribum Monastery. In the middle of the slope. St. Thomas Monastery. Below that, Our Lady of Seidnayya Monastery. Below that, the only mosque in Ma'aret Seidnayya. It serves one family. ("Ma'ara" means cave. George tells me that there are tons of ancient caves in this town, where people used to live.)
The St. Elias (Elijah) Shrine. It commemorates Elijah's visit to this region after he fled from King Ahab to anoint Hazael king over Aram. (I Kings 19:15). George's uncle built this domed section two years ago.
Elijah being fed by the ravens.
A statue of Elijah, wielding the sword he used to kill the prophets of Baal.
After a downward climb of 200 steps, we reach this church overlooking the valley of Maroneh and Damascus.
Me and George.
The church built into the cave that Elijah fled into. No pictures allowed inside, but it's pretty crazy. There's a giant vertical tunnel cutting through the mountainside that, according to tradition, God created to swallow the soldiers chasing Elijah.
The valley.
Me and Elijah.
