Wadi an-Nasara

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وادي النصارى / Wādī an-Naṣārā
Wadi an-Nasara
Wadi an-Nasara (Syria)
Red pog.svg
Coordinates 34 ° 45 ′  N , 36 ° 19 ′  E Coordinates: 34 ° 45 ′  N , 36 ° 19 ′  E
Basic data
Country Syria

Governorate

Homs
ISO 3166-2 SY-HI
Residents 150,000
Secondina
Mashta Azar

The Wadi an-Nasara , in German translation called Valley of the Christians ( Arabic وادي النصارى, DMG Wādī an-Naṣārā , Greek Κοιλάδα των Χριστιανών Koiláda tōn Christianṓn ), is an area in western Syria near the border with Lebanon that belongs to the Homs Governorate . The 150,000 or so residents are largely Arab Christians who belong to the Greek Orthodox Church of Antioch . The valley was a major tourist destination until the civil war in Syria .

population

The valley of the Christians comprises 27 almost entirely Christian villages. There are also four villages in the region, the majority of which are Alawites . Qalʿat al-Ḥuṣn ( Arabic) is the only village in the region that is located around the knight's castle Krak des Chevaliers and has almost 9,000 inhabitants قلعة الحصن, "Citadel of the fortress") a predominantly Sunni Muslim population and only around 300 Christian inhabitants, so that there is only one Christian church in the place, the Melkite-Greek-Catholic Church of the Assumption of Mary Haret Saraya.

Attractions

In addition to the nearby Krak des Chevaliers , the Saint George's Monastery Deir Mar Georges ( Arabic) in Humaira near Marmarita is particularly popular دير مار جرجس) of the Greek Orthodox Church of Antioch of greater prominence.

In the Syrian civil war

While Krak des Chevaliers , which is adjacent to the Christian Valley, and the Sunni village of Qalʿat al-Ḥuṣn near the border with Lebanon, were taken by rebels at the beginning of the civil war in 2011 and only returned to government hands on March 20, 2014, succeeded it is not for the Islamist insurgents to bring the valley of the Christians under their control. In 2013 and 2014 there were fierce fighting in which attacks by Daesh (IS) and other Islamist groups were repulsed. During the civil war, the valley became a place of refuge for Christian refugees, like those who had come from Iraq before the Syrian civil war and who came here from Homs , Aleppo and smaller places such as Maalula and Sadad . Tens of thousands of Christian refugees came here, including about a third of the approximately 150,000 Christians in Aleppo. In 2016, the number of Christian residents in the valley was therefore around 400,000. In August 2019, a delegation from the Hessian regional church with Bishop Martin Hein came to the conclusion that, in view of the reconstruction and active youth work of the church, there was again an increasingly "positive mood" among the Christians in Wadi al-Nasara.

Villages in the Valley of the Christians

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Bodo Bost: The Martyrdom of the Christians of Homs. The Daily Mail , February 10, 2012.
  2. ↑ Today is a feast day: solemn dedication of the church in Haret Saraya, which was destroyed by the jihadists in 2012. Church in Need / ACN International, Christians of Syria, October 10, 2019.
  3. ↑ The 300 Christians from Qalʿat al-Husn. Church in Need / ACN Austria, April 11, 2018.
  4. ↑ Kamal Sido: Syria - Christians in fear. Telepolis, April 21, 2019.
  5. ↑ Josué Villalon and Tobias Lehner: Syria: The Good Samaritans in the "Valley of the Christians". Eastern Churches Infoportal, June 12, 2018.
  6. ↑ Marie-Therese Knöbl: “The loss of our youth is devastating”. A conversation with the Syrian Orthodox Bishop Elias Toumeh about the situation of Christians in his homeland. The daily mail , October 2, 2018.
  7. ^ Bishop Hein: Christians in Syria full of hope. Evangelisch.de , August 12, 2019.