Items - Architecture and Asceticism

Tags: Dayr Mar Elian Archaeological Project

93 Items

Stripping off the cement cladding of the interior of the Mar Elian 1938 church

The cement cladding in the west of the church around the sarcophagus was stripped back to try and alleviate a damp problem. During this process the structural faults of the building were fully revealed and it became clear that the church had to be dismantled.

Type: Architecture
Tags: 1938, Church, Dayr Mar Elian, Dayr Mar Elian Archaeological Project, Mar Elian, Mar Elian esh-Sharqi, Monastery, Qaryatayn, Sarcophagus, Syria, Syrian Civil War

Restoration of the mud brick chamber adjoining the tower

These pictures document the restoration of the chamber adjoining the tower in the south east corner of the cloister.

Type: Architecture
Tags: Architecture, Dayr Mar Elian, Dayr Mar Elian Archaeological Project, Qaryatayn, Syria, Syrian Civil War

Restoration of the roof of the room north of the tower and the tower

These pictures were taken during the restoration of the tower and its adjoining chamber.

Type: Architecture
Tags: Architecture, Dayr Mar Elian, Dayr Mar Elian Archaeological Project, Qaryatayn, Syria, Syrian Civil War

East facing elevation of the east wall of the tower and adjoining room

These images show the second external elevation of the tower at the SE corner of the cloister.

Type: Architecture
Tags: Architecture, Dayr Mar Elian, Dayr Mar Elian Archaeological Project, Monastery, Qaryatayn, Syria, Syrian Civil War, Tower

Detail of the southern cloister wall

The render was stripped back on the southern exterior wall of the cloister to look at its construction techniques in an attempt to date the monastery walls.

Type: Architecture
Tags: Architecture, Dayr Mar Elian, Dayr Mar Elian Archaeological Project, Qaryatayn, Syria, Syrian Civil War

View of the 1938 Church of Mar Elian

This church was built in 1938 over the Byzantine sarcophagus of Mar Elian on the site of the earlier shrine. In 2002 it was discovered that the cement cladding enclosed a mud brick structure. When the church was surveyed and the cement was stripped back to alleviate a damp problem, it became clear that the church had become fundamentally unstable. It was dismantled in 2004 and the salvaged materials were used in the rebuilding of a new church on the model of the 1938 structure to the west of the shrine. The new building was made of stone and a traditional mud brick chapel was constructed over the sarcophagus, which remained in situ.

Type: Architecture
Tags: 1938, Architecture, Church, Dayr Mar Elian, Dayr Mar Elian Archaeological Project, Mar Elian, Mar Elian esh-Sharqi, Monastery, Qaryatayn, Sarcophagus, Shrine, Syria, Syrian Civil War

Interior views of the unrestored mud brick chamber

These pictures show the room to the north of the tower before it was restored.

Type: Architecture
Tags: Architecture, Dayr Mar Elian, Dayr Mar Elian Archaeological Project, Qaryatayn, Syria, Syrian Civil War

Views of the south wall of the monastery cloister

These views show the south side of the monastery wall from the tower in the east to the new cemetery extension to the west.

Type: Architecture
Tags: Architecture, Dayr Mar Elian, Dayr Mar Elian Archaeological Project, Monastery, Qaryatayn, Syria

The door to Dayr Mar Elian

The door to Dayr Mar Elian is one of the most ancient features still extant at the site. It is stone built, like the earliest courses of the wall on the south side, and inset in the later mud brick wall. The door is low to impede entrance as a security feature from earlier periods and the arch above the entrance has curved roundels with foliate motifs. Note in some of the pictures that there are bloody handprints above the interior door, these have been made by people sacrificing animals at the monastery and leaving handprints in fulfilment of a vow made to the saint.

Type: Architecture
Tags: Architecture, Dayr Mar Elian, Dayr Mar Elian Archaeological Project, Monastery, Qaryatayn, Syria