A day northwest of Aleppo: Saint Simeon, Deir Semaan and Ain Dara

The plateau northwest of Aleppo can be done in a day, but it is a long one: 111 kilometres of road, close to four hours of driving, three stops. In the morning you are inside four basilicas built around a pillar; at midday in the town that fed the pilgrims who came to it; in the afternoon at an Iron Age temple looking over the Afrin valley. All three are open ground. No shade, no water.

The route

Leave Aleppo towards Daret Azze. Saint Simeon is about 40 kilometres out; the road winds and the drive runs close to an hour and a half. The monastery sits on the hilltop: four basilicas, an octagonal court, and in the middle of the court a worn rock — the pillar itself, on which Simeon lived for thirty-seven years in the 5th century. Then walk down the slope. Deir Semaan, Telanissos in antiquity, lies on the limestone flat below the hill; this was the town that fed the pilgrims, put them up and sent them off, and its two-storey pilgrim inns are still standing. The two stops are a short distance apart and belong to one story. In the afternoon turn north: Ain Dara is 21 kilometres on, about an hour by car. The mound rises out of the plain and the temple is on the upper town. The way back to Aleppo is 50 kilometres.

Timing

Leave Aleppo at 07:30. 09:00 at Saint Simeon: the stone heats up towards midday and no shade is left on the site, which is the reason for going early. Give it an hour and a half. 10:30 at Deir Semaan; a circuit of the town takes an hour, and do not leave without seeing the monastery to the southeast. Set off again at 12:30 and reach Ain Dara at 14:00. The temple faces southeast and its front takes the light in the afternoon. Look down before you walk in: the giant footprints are in the paving of the porch. Turn back at 15:00 and be in Aleppo before evening.

Take care

Access to Ain Dara can change, so confirm the situation before you set out. The temple was badly damaged in 2018, and there are looters’ pits on the site; keep away from their edges. The ground at all three stops is broken stone and uneven, so solid flat soles are needed. Carry water and a hat, since nobody sells either at any of the three. Among the ruins at Deir Semaan there are houses with animals in them; do not walk into a courtyard uninvited. In winter mud and fog on the plateau stretch the drive out, which makes spring and autumn the season for this route.