65 Items
Baqirha C5th church
The C5th church at Baqirha possesses a bema and has so many outbuildings that it was erronously believed to be a monastery in the past. Today most of the walls have fallen and it is difficult to make out the floorplan of the building.
Type: Architecture
Tags: Architecture, Baqirha, Bema, C5th, Church, Jebel Barisha, Limestone Massif, Syria
Views towards Antakya from Syria
These views look down from the Syrian Limestone Massif at Baqirha towards Antakya and the Mediterranean coast.
Type: Landscape
Tags: Antakya, Antioch, Baqirha, Jebel Barisha, Landscape, Limestone Massif, Syria, Turkey
Burj Baqirha
Burj Baqirha is the local name given to a C2nd Roman temple that survives on the hill above the settlement of that name overlooking the Syrian-Turkish border.
Type: Architecture
Tags: Architecture, Baqirha, Burj Baqirha, Jebel Barisha, Limestone Massif, Roman, Syria, Temple
Baqirha C6th church
The settlement of Baqirha had two churches. The façade of the C6th church is perfectly preserved, but the rest of the church is obscured by foliage and fallen masonry. The village is on the high plateau facing the Syrian-Turkish border to the west.
Type: Architecture
Tags: Architecture, Baqirha, C6th, Church, Jebel Barisha, Limestone Massif, Syria
Dar Qita
The Church of SS. Paul and Moses is an early C5th building in the village of Dar Qita on the plain near the contemporary Syrian-Turkish border. It has been used for stabling animals and a significant amount of stone has been stolen from the site.
Type: Architecture
Tags: Architecture, Bema, C5th, Church, Dar Qita, Jebel Barisha, Limestone Massif, St. Moses, St. Paul, Syria
Qirq Bizeh
Qirq Bizeh is the name of a small abandoned settlement to the north of Qalb Lozeh. A C2nd villa was converted into a church in the C4th or C5th and retains the internal liturgical fittings that clearly identify the ritual use of the building. It is very small, but houses a bema and has a raised platform at the east end that is divided from the rest of the chamber by a chancel screen. There is also evidence of reliquary chambers in the screen and small reliquary caskets elsewhere. The bema retains its 'throne' or pulpit and the ritual use of the house extends to the courtyard where extensive cisterns seem to have housed water or olive oil in antiquity.
Type: Architecture
Tags: Architecture, Bema, C4th, Jebel Il'Ala, Limestone Massif, Martyrium, Pulpit, Qirq Bizeh, Reliquary, Syria, Throne
Qalb Lozeh
The church in the village of Qalb Lozeh ("Heart of the Almond") is the largest in the region and dates from the C5th. It is surrounded by the modern village and is one of the best preserved churches in the area, although the north side has been damaged and a new wall has been built to secure the monument. At one point the church had a bema in the nave, but this was removed and the outline of the former platform is still visible in the flagstones. It is also notable for its impressive western façade that is flanked by two bell towers.
Type: Architecture
Tags: Architecture, Bema, C5th, Church, Jebel Il'Ala, Limestone Massif, Qalb Lozeh, Syria, Tower
Church, Al Bara
This C6th church is unusual for having a nave that is almost transverse. Although this type of floorpan is a known element of churches in the Tur Abdin region of south eastern Turkey, it is very unusual to find this design this far south.
Type: Architecture
Tags: Al Bara, Architecture, C6th, Church, Jebel Zawiyeh, Limestone Massif, Syria, Tur Abdin, Turkey
Pyramid tomb, Al Bara
Al Bara is a modern town located besides the ruins of a substantial late antique settlement in Idlib province. It is particularly well-known for its distinctive pyramidal-roofed mausoleum.
Type: Architecture
Tags: Al Bara, Architecture, Jebel Zawiyeh, Late Antique, Limestone Massif, Mausoleum, Pyramid, Syria
Zar Zita
The road to Zar Zita approaches from the east through a rocky shallow valley that on the south side abuts the northern edge of Jebel Sheikh Barakat. Here the limestone has been carved for use as a series of hypogea and funerary reliefs that date from approximately the first century BCE until the second century CE.
Type: Sculpture
Tags: C1st-C2nd, Funerary Relief, Hypogea, Jebel Seman, Jebel Sheikh Barakat, Limestone Massif, Syria, Zar Zita