St. Simeon

Qa'alat Samaan, Syria

Fascinating. Stunning. Awe inspiring. The ruined basilica of St. Simeon crowns a hill overlooking a countryside littered with ancient ruins. It is a marvellous site.
The son of a shepherd, St Simeon lived an extremely ascetic life in the 5th century. As he became famous and people started to come to him for blessings, thus disturbing his solitude, he became an eccentric. Eventually St. Simeon ended up living high up on a pillar out of reach. It is said that he spent almost 40 years on pillars up to 18m high from atop of which he preached. This drew many more pilgrims and further contributed to the saint's fame. After his death a huge basilica was erected around his pillar, and four more churches around this one to house the pilgrims. The complex is said to have been the largest church in the world at that time - 490 AD. With the arrival of Islam in Syria the church was fortified and eventually lost its role as a place of worship in 1017 AD.
Today the Romanesque facade sets you in awe at first sight. There's not much left of the walls, but the arches and columns and the stone carvings are still stunning. There are only birds to disturb you, if any. And the tranquility of the place is sure to enchant you. As usual I spent several hours taking in every detail and pitying the groups of tourists which came and went in their allocated - much too short - timeslot.