Monastery of Saint Elian, al-Qaryatayn

A Syriac Catholic monastery on the edge of the town of al-Qaryatayn, on the old caravan road between Damascus and Palmyra. Part of its foundations are 1500 years old. It held a tomb from the 5th century, and for centuries it was a pilgrimage site for people seeking a cure.

Getting there

South-east of Homs, in al-Qaryatayn on the desert fringe, just outside the built-up area on the Palmyra side. Getting there without a hired car is difficult; there is no regular public transport to the town. Do not confuse this with the Church of Saint Elian in Homs itself, which is a different building with its own page.

How long it takes

Forty-five minutes is enough. The site is small: a courtyard, the church, and the crypt below.

What to see

The walls were built of stone cut with circular patterns. Excavations uncovered a large plastered iconostasis and a stone sarcophagus. The bones of Mar Elian are believed to have lain in it. A thorough restoration in the early 2000s replaced the facade and opened up the newly excavated lower level.

Where things stand

The monastery was demolished by ISIL on 21 August 2015. Its superior, Jacques Mourad, had been abducted that May and escaped after five months. When the area was retaken in April 2016, the bones of Mar Elian and his broken sarcophagus were found in the rubble. Since 2022 the community under Mourad has rebuilt the church and the crypt and returned the relics. What you see is neither the building that stood before 2015 nor a ruin.

What most visitors miss

The old stones carry graffiti left by worshippers of other faiths: Stars of David and lines of Arabic. The building also bore an inscription stating that the monastery stood under the protection of a local Muslim emir — direct evidence that Muslims and Christians lived side by side here in the 15th century.