remains of st simon's pillar

Qala'at Samaan and Dead Cities, the tour

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March 31st 2009
On Wednesday, we headed out for our tour of Qala'at Samaan - which is a chuch from the 5th century dedicated to St. Simon, who spent 36 ye on top of various pillars. After he died, his followers built the church around the last pillar he was on. Then we headed to various "Dead Cities" which are ruins of very large cities dating to the Byzantine empire. We were up very far into northern syria, near ... read more

Middle East » Syria » North » Aleppo

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Following the breakup of the Ottoman Empire during World War I, Syria was administered by the French until independence in 1946. In the 1967 Arab-Israeli War, Syria lost the Golan Heights to Israel. Syrian troops - stationed in Lebanon since 1976 in ... ... read more