Wadi al-Nasara, the Valley of the Christians

A green valley in the west of Homs governorate, inland from the gap that opens towards the Mediterranean. Its name is Wadi al-Nasara, the Valley of the Christians. Twenty-seven of its thirty-two villages are Christian and most of those are Greek Orthodox; four are Alawite, and one — al-Husn, directly below Krak des Chevaliers — is mainly Sunni. Before the war this was one of the most visited rural areas in the country.

Getting there

West of Homs, north of the road to Tartus. The road into the valley passes below Krak des Chevaliers, so most people who come for the castle are in fact driving through the valley. The villages are close together, a few kilometres apart.

How long it takes

A full day. If you fold the castle into the same day, give the morning to the castle and the afternoon to the villages.

What to see

What the valley offers is a settlement pattern rather than a single monument: stone villages stepping up the slopes, olive groves and vineyards between them, each village with its own church. Marmarita, al-Mishtaya, Mashta Azar, Zweitina, Kafra and Habnamrah are some of them. In church terms the valley belongs to the Archdiocese of Akkar, seated in Lebanon.

What most visitors miss

The statue of the Lady of the Valley, in the village of al-Nasirah on top of the Mount of the Pilgrim. With its base it stands 30 metres high, at an altitude of 980 metres, and it was inaugurated on 16 August 2009. It is visible from across the valley, and from up there the whole valley is visible in turn. Saint George’s Monastery at al-Mishtaya is a separate stop with its own page.