Monasteries and Churches of the Qalamun (Syria): Art and Pilgrimage in the Middle Ages (original) (raw)

Journal of the Canadian Society for Syriac Studies

Abstract

______________________________________________________________________________________________________ Journal of the Canadian Society for Syriac Studies 7 (2007) Page 74 T he mountainous area to the north of Damascus, known as the Qalamun (Djebel Qalam n), has long been a Christian stronghold in the predominantly Muslim Middle East (fig. 1; all figures are by the author, unless mentioned otherwise). Traditionally, the majority of the Qalamun’s Christians were adherents to the Byzantine Orthodox (Melkite) Church, living in places such as Saydnaya, Maarat Saydnaya, Maalula, Yabrud, Qara and Deir Attiya. The Syrian Orthodox Church was well established in Nebk, Qaryatain and Sadad in the eastern part of the Qalamun, owned two monasteries here (Deir Mar Musa and Deir Mar Elian), and had bishoprics in Damascus and Sadad. With the increasing importance of the Greek Catholic Church in Damascus and its surroundings in the eighteenth century, the denomination of several Melkite monasteries and churches changed from Greek Orthodox to Greek Catholic. In the next century the two West Syrian monasteries were transferred to the Syrian Catholic Church. This study aims at giving the initial impetus to reconstructing the Christian landscape of the Qalamun through the ages. We do, however, have to realise that this intention is ambitious, as it requires a systematic survey of the area and a detailed analysis of the ancient buildings combined with a study of relevant literary sources. With this limitation in mind, our point of departure will be the situation in the decades before and during the Crusader era (1099-1291), focussing in particular on two interrelated subjects that in recent years have raised scholarly interest: the flourishing of church art in the Qalamun, and the impact of pilgrimage, in particular to the Monastery of Our Lady in Saydnaya.

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