The Church of St. Thecla today is a modern convent and orphanage for young girls run by Rum Orthodox nuns, as with the convent at Saydnaya. The shrine is believed by local people to be the place that the rocks opened to receive St. Thecla as she fled an attempted rape. The story is known from the early Christian text called The Acts of Paul and Thecla and most people locate these events in Asia Minor, but there is a long-standing Syrian tradition of placing these events in Maaloula.
Creator
Emma Loosley
Date of Visit
1st December 1992 to 1st January 1970
Contributor
Cherryl & Richmond Hunt
Emma Loosley
Rights
Metadata and all media released under Creative Commons
unless otherwise indicated
Type
Architecture
Tags
Architecture, Chapel, Maaloula, Qalamoun, Shrine, St. Thecla, Syria
Collection
Citation
Emma Loosley, “Maaloula Church of St. Thecla,” Architecture and Asceticism, accessed November 21, 2024, https://architectureandasceticism.exeter.ac.uk/items/show/399.