The Hagia Sophia Replica in Al-Suqaylabiyah

This Greek Orthodox church stands in al-Suqaylabiyah, a Greek Orthodox town overlooking the Ghab Plain about 48 kilometres north-west of Hama. It was built as a small-scale copy of the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul and opened in July 2022. Its official name is the Orthodox Church of the Holy Wisdom “Hagia Sophia”.

How it came about

In July 2020, in response to the conversion of the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul into a mosque, the Syrian government of the time announced that a copy would be built in al-Suqaylabiyah with Russian support. Construction took about two years.

The opening day

During the opening ceremony on 24 July 2022 the town was hit by a missile or an armed drone; 2 people were killed and 12 wounded. Reports on who carried out the attack do not agree, and the sources give no firm answer.

What is known for visitors

No source gives the building’s dimensions, capacity or visiting hours. It is a working church; ask on the spot when the doors are open.

What else is in al-Suqaylabiyah

The town takes its name from the Seleucid city of Seleucia ad Belum. On the hill in the old centre, al-Tell, Roman olive oil presses lie in an area of about 250 x 330 metres. In the Sultaniyeh quarter stand the Church of Saints Peter and Paul, built in 1994 in neo-Byzantine style with room for 600 people, and the Monastery of the Dormition.

What most people miss

The Roman olive oil presses on al-Tell. Close to the new church, they are the trace on the ground of the town’s past going back to Seleucia ad Belum.