Aleppo 30Dec2010

The 1st day, Dec. 29th, we visited Brad, then back to hotel in a nice neighborhood in Aleppo, then spent the evening in the hussling streets of Aleppo. I got several good bargains :)
The 2nd day, we left the hotel to the Maronite Cathedral, where we attended 8am Holy Mass. Then visited to old eparchy, then walked for about 15 minutes in the bitter cold to the new eparchy building, where we had coffee w/ bishop Abi Aad. The picture above is taken in the square in front of the Maronite Eparchy of Saint Elias in Aleppo. it shows a nice gate & an old ally to leads to the old neighborhood of the Maronite old eparchy.

The best part of all in the trip was the visit to the ruins of the Basilica of Saint Simon the Column.
Saint Simon was a very famous saint in the 5th century AD. A disciple of Saint Maron, who joined the monastic life after attending the funeral of his father. Simon was deeply touched by the gospel; and led a very auster life in the monastery. he was then advised by the abbot to live in a hermitage. He then built a column and had his little hermitage build on its top, in the cold & under the sun, for years. He used the column to preach for the caravans passing by. Later the Muslims were very much inspiried by his preaching & life style, and built themselves minarates to preach and call people to prayer.
Saint Simon was so famous, that people traded pictures and statues of him in East and West Europe. Numerous young people sought to be disciple of him, and learn his fast way to God. Some came from as far as Ireland.

Above is a panoramic picture of the Basilica of Saint Simon; which was built in the 5th century by the Byzantine emperor in honor of Saint Simon & in support of his disciples, the House of Maron, who defended and spread the Catholic faith in the region of Syria, Lebanon, south Turkey, Iraq, and Palestine. The remains of the Church still show, inspite of the earthquakes and the old age, a very beautiful archetecture. The church was built around the column of Saint Simon, which is still there, in part.

A large monastery is annexed to the church. It's believed to had housed once about a thounsand monks. The Church is built on a very strategic hill, not faraway from the Turkey. A cemetary is built to the north of the Church, all carved from one huge rock, with several little chambers and a pit in the middle.
A baptistery still stands high to the south of the Church, about 100 meters away from it. Many of the stones, and walls of the church and the baptistery are carved in the stone-bed of the hill. Some walls are about 3 meters high and 7 long, carved from the stone-bed there. (see the below picture)

Trip to Aleppo end of 2011

Wed. Dec. 29, after a long trip by buss, about 8 hours, we were in Brad, northwest of Aleppo, Syria; not far away from the borders of Turkey. It was quite cold, however sunny & dry. Brad is the town that housed the body of Saint Maron after his death in 410. The beautiful ruins of churches and monasteries are obvious everywhere. sometimes 3 stories buildings that date back to 15 & 16 hundred years, when Upper Syria was a busy Christian hub, where monastic life flourished.
A new, poor & modest church was erected, in a quick fashion, in preparation for the celebrations of the 1600 jubelee of the death of St. Maron. In such an Islamic Syrian regime, it's hard to get a permit to build a church.
Brad is totally populated by Kurds, a very poor population. Many Kurds have adopted Islam as a way to gain access to the country's resources. However, most of the children of the town were playing in the public square. very few were seen walking out of school with the uniform on. Kurds towns in Syria are often very neglected, no pavements, no roads, no power, no running water ... but there few dishes (for TV) on the modest rooftops. houses are built out of the local stones, poorly. Several have used the well carved old stones, from surrounding churches & monasteries.
Behind me in the picture, is what is believed to be, in the far past, the tomb of Saint Maron, the patron Saint of the Catholic Maronite Eastern Church.
The soil there is very rocky, and hard to cultivate. the little soil is collected by locals to form small pockets where olives, figs, grenadines, & other cereals are planted. To the northwest the Toros mountains of Turkey can be seen covered with snow. As one goes east the rocks fade giving way to fertile plains with red soil.




These are the ruins of an old Maronite Cathedral that dates back to the early 5th century AD. The architecture is elegant and refined. Strong enough to survive (in part) several major earthquakes, and thousands of years. Some of the stones are 4 meters long, one thick & one meter large. Huge stones, very beautiful carved & built.
In the back of the picture, a new mosque minaret stands up. As the Kurds in Brad could sense the intention of the Syrian government to take over this touristic site, many hasted to build houses & buisnesses ... so that they can collect some recompenses later.



Inside the Aleppo Maronite Cathedral. A beautiful church that was build over years, since early 1700. Aleppo used to be a very important commercial hub, as it linked India with Europe and the Fertile Cresent. It was the main trade road for carvans of silk, spices, clothes, food, weapons ... & an important cultural hub that housed many embassies, libraries from the West & the East, schools.
Aleppo was the most important Maronite city. it's currently dominated by a Sunni, Muslim majority. Christian minorities are mostly Armenians, Greek Orthodox, Catholic Maronites and Greeks.
Aleppo is probably the most beautiful & vibrant Syrian city, with a population of about 5 million people. It's know for its castle, Turkish bathes, large and relatively affordable marketplace, and tasty restaurents.

Lunch @ Saints Ustina & Cyprian

Back in Nov. 2011, friar Mikhael N. Abu Abdo invited a bunch of his friends, all from Wadi Bnehlay over lunch @ the historical monastery of Saints Ustina & Cyprian, in North Lebanon, Batroun. The monastery is well known for two great modern Lebanese saints, monks in the Lebanese Maronite Order: Saint NeamtAlla El'Hardini & Saint Stephan Nehmi.
The hospitality of the monastery was warm & wonderful to say the least. the lunch was followed by a trip to my sister's place in Jej, & was topped by a game of Bariba (speciality of El'Wadi).
In the picture, that was taken by me, to the right: Imm Najib, Abu Najib Jabbour, Abu Walid Lahud, Giris Bu Abdo, Joseph & Tony Tobia, then to the left Yusif Lahud, Rev. Miled Antoun, Tanios Lahud (current mayor, his face is hidden by friar Mikhael's hand), friar Mike, Sharbel Richa Antoun, Toufic Mousa, the hand of Abu Naji Jabbour (Antoun).