Church of Saint Simeon Stylites

Church of Saint Simeon Stylites كنيسة مار سمعان العمودي قلعة سمعان
Overview of the complex
Basic information
Location	Mount Simeon, Aleppo Governorate, Syria
Geographic coordinates	36°20′03″N 36°50′38″E / 36.33417°N 36.84389°ECoordinates: 36°20′03″N 36°50′38″E / 36.33417°N 36.84389°E
Affiliation	Christianity
Year consecrated	475 AD
Status	in ruins
Architectural description
Architectural type	Church
Architectural style	Byzantine architecture

The remains of the pillar of Saint Simeon Stylites

The Church of Saint Simeon Stylites (Arabic: كنيسة مار سمعان العمودي‎ Kanīsat Mār Simʿān al-ʿAmūdī) is a historical building located about 30 km (19 mi) northwest of Aleppo, Syria. It is the oldest surviving Byzantine church, dating back to the 5th century. Built on the site of the pillar of St. Simeon Stylites, a famed hermit monk, the church is popularly known as either Qalaat Semaan (Arabic: قلعة سمعان‎ Qalʿat Simʿān), the 'Fortress of Simeon', or Deir Semaan (Arabic: دير سمعان‎ Dayr Simʿān), the 'Monastery of Simeon' .

As of June 2011, the Church and surrounding village was designated by United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) as part of the "Ancient Villages of Northern Syria", a World Heritage Site.^[1]

The Church was held by Islamist extremist groups (including Islamic State) who are opposed to reverence for and existence of shrines and holy sites, both Muslim and Christian raising concerns for its continued existence. On the 28th of May 2015 the church was captured by the Kurdish YPG/YPJ with apparently little damage.

Gallery

• 

  The Baptistry

• 

  South facade of Church of Saint Simeon

• 

  Icon of Saint Simeon

See also

• Oldest churches in the world
• History of Roman and Byzantine domes

References

1. "Ancient Villages of Northern Syria". UNESCO. Retrieved 14 July 2011.

• Gary Vikan, Byzantine Pilgrimage Art (Dumbarton Oaks Papers, 1982), 8–9.
• Simeon Citadel and Dead Cities, Suggestion to have Saint Simeon Stylites recognized as a UNESCO world heritage site, in 2006, as part of "Simeon Citadel and Dead Cities"-project.
• "St. Simeon Church." Syria Gate (accessed 2008).
• Sacred Destinations
• http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1348/multiple=1&unique_number=1761

Further reading

• Weitzmann, Kurt, ed., Age of spirituality: late antique and early Christian art, third to seventh century, no. 590, 1979, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, ISBN 9780870991790

External links

Media related to Church of Saint Simeon Stylites at Wikimedia Commons

• Gatier, P., T. Sinclair, M. Ballance, R. Warner, R. Talbert, T. Elliott, S. Gillies. "Places: 658606 (Symeon, Mon.)". Pleiades. Retrieved March 8, 2012.