The 5th-Century Church of Saint Simeon in Syria Reopens to Visitors After 14 Years of Closure

The Saint Simeon church complex in Syria's Aleppo province has reopened to visitors after 14 years of closure, a span that took in the civil war, a 2016 airstrike and the 2023 earthquake, according to Good News Network. Syria's Directorate-General of Antiquities and Museums held the reopening ceremony on October 2.

A mountaintop sanctuary built around a pillar

The complex was built between 476 and 490 AD around the pillar where Saint Simeon lived for 37 years until his death in 459. The Byzantine emperor Zeno commissioned the sanctuary to hold the thousands of pilgrims who came to see him. According to Good News Network, its size went unmatched by any Christian church until Hagia Sophia was completed in 537.

It is part of the Ancient Villages of Northern Syria, which UNESCO added to the World Heritage List in 2011.

Landmines cleared and fragile walls reinforced

Restoration included clearing landmines, reinforcing structurally fragile areas and repairing damaged buildings and facilities, and new pilgrimage routes were added across the mountaintop, Good News Network reports. The site's damage came from the war, including a 2016 airstrike, and then from the 2023 earthquake.

Syria's state news agency SANA separately reported the site reopening to visitors on September 28, World Tourism Day, so the exact date depends on whether the first public opening or the formal ceremony is counted. Mulham Oqeidi of the Aleppo Governorate said the work included “returning the Column of St. Simeon to its location, rehabilitating the main square and visitor routes.”

What visitors can see now

SANA lists a church, a monastery, a baptistery, a processional route and fortified structures from the late fifth century around the column. Rakan al-Tayeh of Syria's Tourism Ministry described the reopening as part of efforts to revive tourism in Aleppo province, and a new website with virtual-reality features was launched alongside it.