Yabrud

يبرود / Yabrūd Yabrud
Coordinates	33 ° 59 ′  N , 36 ° 39 ′  E Coordinates: 33 ° 59 ′  N , 36 ° 39 ′  E
Basic data
Country	Syria
Governorate	Rif Dimashq
height	1400 m
Residents	45,257 (2009)
Yabrud (2011)

Cathedral of Saints Constantine and Helena , 2002

Yabrud (also Yabroud or Jabrud ; Arabic يبرود, DMG Yabrūd ) is a Syrian city. It is located about 80 km northeast of Damascus , west of the M1 and about 20 km east of the Lebanese border.

Yabrud has 45,257 inhabitants (2009 calculation). Most of them are Sunni Muslims , while about a third are Christians , the majority of whom are members of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church .

history

During the time of the Roman Empire there was a Roman Jupiter temple in today's Yabrud. After Christianization , a Christian church was built on the foundation walls and stones of this temple, later the Cathedral of Saints Constantine and Helena , which is still standing today. After the Islamic conquest, the local mosques were added.

Yabrud was described in the Telegraph 2013 as a model place for Muslims and Christians to live together. The site was one of the first to come under opposition control as early as 2011 during the Syrian civil war , and the Free Syrian Army (FSA) was welcomed here. Church officials urged Christians to stay away from the opposition, which angered local Sunni opposition figures. Nevertheless, the coexistence of the groups continued to function well under the rule of the FSA. In 2013, however, the al-Qaeda- affiliated al-Nusra front began to take strategic positions in the area. Against the will of the local Muslims, men from al-Nusra tried to take control of the mosques. In a first attempt to throw the previous imam out of a mosque, the al-Nusra people were successfully thrown out by those present. The Melkite Father George Hadad from the Frauenkirche Yabrud also describes the relationship between Muslims and Christians as good. Only a small minority of Muslims supported the extremists, while other Muslims accompanied him as he walked through the town for protection. In October 2013, al-Nusra, who now ruled the place, blew up the cross from the Melkite Church of Our Lady. Nevertheless, services were held regularly. From Yabrud, al-Nusra conquered the mostly Christian village of Maalula, a few kilometers away, at the end of 2013 . During this period, the ancient church of Constantine and Helena was damaged by tank fire. In February 2014, jihadists entered the Frauenkirche in Yabrud and destroyed or stole the entire facility. The increasing terror led to the emigration of Christians, but the Melkite Father George Hadad stayed on site the entire time. On March 16, 2014, government forces retook Yabrud with the support of Lebanese Shiite Hezbollah . Mary is greatly venerated among the Christian population, but even among local Muslims. In the eyes of many, it is thanks to her that the damaged Frauenkirche still stood after the heavy fighting during the reconquest in 2014. After the reconquest of the place, nine of the 3500 Christians in Yabrud were still in Yabrud, some of whom had fled the fighting. In the following months the majority of the people who had fled returned - 85% of the Christians by the beginning of 2015. The Melkite priests returned shortly before Good Friday 2014. In the neighboring mosque, they were allowed to use the loudspeakers to call for Good Friday prayer. Current pictures show the Frauenkirche again in a neat condition.

Worth seeing

The Melkite Greek Catholic Church of Constantine and Helena was built from stones from a former temple of Jupiter. In addition to some valuable icons, it also contains capitals from Roman columns. During the Syrian civil war , the cathedral was damaged in late September and early October 2013 when the Christian residential area was shelled with tanks. On the northeastern edge of the village stands the modern, much larger Melkite Greek Catholic Church of Our Lady , which was the target of wanton destruction, but has been restored.

The important archaeological site of Yabrud 33 ° 58 ′ 36 ″ N, 36 ° 38 ′ 43 ″ E lies east of the Anti-Lebanon mountain range at an altitude of approx. 1400 m. During his "adventurous" bicycle trip, Alfred Rust discovered the site in September 1930 and examined it. Excavations were carried out between 1931 and 1933. The finds were brought from Rust to Germany to the Institute for Pre- and Protohistory at the University of Cologne. A total of 45 cultural layers are spread over three rock roofs.

sons and daughters of the town

• Abdo Arbach (* 1952), Melkite Greek Catholic Archbishop of Homs

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Page no longer available , search in web archives:
2. ↑ ^{a b c} Christine Marlow: Inside Syria's model town: Peace, until al-Qaeda arrived. The Telegraph , October 5, 2013.
3. ↑ ^{a b c} Oliver Maksan, Amanda Bridget Griffin: Before the jihadists arrived. ACN Canada, February 17, 2015.
4. ^ Syrian army captures strategic border town. Backed by Lebanese Hezbollah fighters, Syrian troops clear out rebels holed up in Yabroud for months, says state TV. Al Jazeera , March 17, 2014.