Aleppo, Sept. 28 (SANA) Deir Samaan Citadel, a centuries-old religious complex in northern Syria associated with St. Simeon the Stylite, reopened to visitors Monday after restoration and safety work, marking World Tourism Day.
The site in Aleppo countryside underwent cleaning and landscaping, repairs to visitor routes and facilities, and work to reinforce structures considered at risk.
Rakan al-Tayeh, director of the General Authority for Tourism and Hotel Training at Syria’s Tourism Ministry, said the reopening was part of efforts to revive tourism in Aleppo province.
A website dedicated to the site has also been launched, offering virtual-reality features that allow people outside Syria to explore the complex, he told SANA.
Mulham Oqeidi, a member of the Aleppo Governorate Executive Office, said restoration work included returning the Column of St. Simeon to its location, rehabilitating the main square and visitor routes, and reinforcing structurally vulnerable areas.
The work involved Aleppo Governorate, Syria’s antiquities authorities, representatives of Christian communities, emergency management officials, a development organization, volunteers and archaeology students from Aleppo University.
A fifth-century pilgrimage site
The Church of St. Simeon was built in the late fifth century around the column associated with St. Simeon the Stylite and became an important destination for Christian pilgrims in the region, according to Amal Hussein, an official responsible for managing World Heritage sites in Idlib province.
Hussein said the complex had suffered damage in recent years and that its reopening would make it accessible again to visitors, researchers and people interested in archaeology and history.
Visitors at the reopening said restoring the site offered Syrians an opportunity to reconnect with the country’s archaeological heritage and could help draw renewed attention to historic destinations in Aleppo.
Deir Samaan is part of the Ancient Villages of Northern Syria, a group of archaeological sites inscribed on UNESCO’s World Heritage List in 2011. The complex includes a church, monastery, baptistery and processional route, with surrounding structures that were later incorporated into a fortified complex.
R.D/ABD
