In Syria, the monastery of Saint Simeon bears the scars of war and awaits its necessary restoration

Around the base of the famous column of Saint Simeon, scattered stones bear witness to the damage inflicted during the war on this abandoned Byzantine monastery in northern Syria, which experienced bombings, looting and wild excavations. An AFP team went on Saturday July 19 with a French archaeological delegation to this site, which remained inaccessible during the conflict (2011-2024), for a first inspection.

The sanctuary located in the province of Aleppo is one of the ancient villages of northern Syria, nicknamed the “dead cities” and listed as a UNESCO world heritage site. With her camera and a small notebook in hand, Micheline Kurdi, a specialist in archaeological heritage, explores the ruins to “document“the inventory and initially plan”rapid interventions“, she explains to AFP. “There is irreparable damage in the southeastern part of the monastery, but the church (…) is in good condition“, says this 42-year-old Franco-Syrian, whose last visit to the site dates back to 2010.

Destruction and looting

Inside the monastery, AFP journalists saw cracked arches and partially collapsed stone walls, with the monks’ homes remaining intact. Since the start of the conflict in Syria in 2011, the site has been “looted, victim of illegal excavations, used for military purposes and left abandoned“, explains the director of the Saint-Siméon site, Abdel Jalil Arabi.

He estimates that between 30 and 40% of the site was damaged, notably the west arch which collapsed with its columns. As for the column of Saint Siméon, “symbol of the church, its base is still there, but its remains are scattered and we will try to reconstruct them“, he specifies. The monastery has seen the passage of different armed functions, some of which used it for military purposes, according to the director.

A deadly earthquake in 2016

In May 2016, it was hit by a strike that UNESCO condemned, before a deadly earthquake that occurred in February 2023 in Syria and Turkey further weakened its arches and walls. The monastery was built towards the end of the 5th century around the column of Saint Simeon the Stylite, an ascetic monk who, according to Christian tradition, perched at its summit for around forty years devoting himself to prayer.

Becoming a place of pilgrimage during a period of transition from paganism to Byzantine Christianity, this column has remained a popular religious destination. Land of centuries-old civilizations, Syria is full of archaeological treasures. During the war, sites were bombed and museums looted. Micheline Kurdi, who devoted her doctoral thesis to the site, explains that it is necessary “review old plans to reinstall the base and the remaining part of it“.

An important heritage for the future of the country

For the French charge d’affaires in Syria, Jean-Baptiste Faivre, who was part of the delegation, “this heritage is extremely important, not only for Syria’s past, but also for its (…) economic and tourist future“. He announces a “cooperation between the General Directorate of Antiquities and Museums of Syria and French cultural institutions to assist in the restoration and development of the site“.

France has been involved in Syrian archeology since the beginning of the 20th century, and before the war had a large number of active archaeological missions in the country. The restoration must be done “with the support of donors and our partners, such as the French Embassy and the Aliph Foundation, which works to protect heritage in countries affected by wars“, explains for his part Vincent Gelot, project manager for the Œuvre d’Orient, a Christian NGO, in Lebanon and Syria. He says he hopes “that one day tourists and pilgrims will return to this place, which carries a message and continues to speak to us todayi”.