Maaloula & Sednaya

Maaloula & St Thekla

I wanted to make an excursion to the village of Maaloula, which I visited in 2002.  It is well-known as one of the last areas where Aramaic (specifically Western Neo-Aramaic) is still spoken on a daily basis.  That language is believed to be the closest language of Jesus, which was Galilean Aramaic.

Leaving the hotel at 0800, I walked towards the station where the shared vans would take me to Maaloula, but I got sidetracked into the nearby wholesale produce market.

The chaos and mess resembled Yemen from 20 years ago when I was there.  Locals were friendly and keen to chat.  I took a few photos before getting to the station around 0830 to find a van.

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As usual, there was a wait for the van to fill up but fortunately it was only about 30 mins of waiting.  We departed after 0900 with nearly a full load of people and some produce such as potatoes.

Passengers collected the fare and gave change, and passed the money to the driver along the way.  Including some time to deliver the produce to shops, the ride took about an hour, and I hopped off outside the St Thekla Monastery.

The monastery is in fact a Greek Orthodox convent (often referred to as monastery in some parts of the world).  The convent, including a church was built in 1935 around the grotto of St Thekla where the 1^st century saint is buried.

A dozen nuns and some workers were kidnapped here in 2013 by Syrian Al Qaeda rebels and held for three months.  The nuns say that they were treated well and not forced to removed their crosses.

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Convent of Our Lady of Sednaya

After 35 mins, I walked downhill a little in search of transport to get to Sednaya.  As expected, there was no shared transport available and I had to get a pricey private taxi.

Leaving around 1100, I got to Sednaya about 1130.  From the moving car as we approached, I caught a glimpse of the impressive Convent of Our Lady of Senaya set on top of a hill.  Unfortunately, it wasn’t possible to take a good photo and I had no other opportunities for such a shot later.

I had a little wander around the Greek Orthodox convent and followed people into a secluded area where we were required to remove our shoes.  At first, I thought it was the sanctuary of the church as it had many icons, candles and incense burners.  I later learnt that this was the Shaghoura (the Illustrious, icon of Mary) pilgrimage site, where no photos were permitted.

The church itself, accessed from the main doors separately, was not open.  In fact, there wasn’t much to see but the experience of being in the pilgrimage site was special.

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I proceeded downhill through the alleys to the main part of town to await shared transport back to Damascus.  The trip to Sednaya by private taxi wasn’t worth it for the little bit that I saw, but we can’t always justify each little part of the trip on its own.

Sednaya is also known for its military prison and death camp.  It was operated by the Assad regime a key instrument for crushing dissent.  Some travellers have been there but more recently it has become off-limits.

Back to Damascus

I started waiting for a van around 1200 and managed to hop into one about 15 mins later.  Unfortunately, it backtracked to collect cargo and wait for more passengers.

We got going in earnest around 1250 and I was dropped off near this morning’s station around 1335.

I treated myself to lunch in a nice restaurant before looking around the souq for a pair of reading glasses to replace the one that had broke last night.  It was quite an effort as sunglasses are more common than reading glasses!

The Azem Palace was nearby but I found it just as it was closing up at 1530.  Damn!  And Bimaristan Nur al-Din didn’t look open at all.  But it wasn’t all in vain as I finally got my reading glasses near the citadel wall.

Back to the Umayyad Mosque area

I returned to the Umayyad Mosque area for one last look.  I tried going to the Sayyidah Ruqayya Shrine.  Being a Shia mosque, it is rich in mirror mosaics and despite having been in Karbala and Najaf recently, I still love them.

Unfortunately, it was closed for the day so I returned to the Umayyad Mosque to see the mausoleum of Salah Din located outside the mosque.

Nearby, was a memorial to the early Ottoman aviators who perished in 1914 flying from Istanbul to Cairo through the Levant.  I suppose overwater flights weren’t a thing back then.

I looked hard for the shrine of Hussein in the Umayyad mosque and even asked.  This was marked on Google Maps but perhaps it was a mistake.  I didn’t want to risk offence asking around about a great Shia personality in a Sunni mosque.

The perfect finish to my day was a baked potato with lots of delicious toppings, near my hotel.  The staff spoke some English and were super friendly.