Saint Simeon al-Qallay Church in Kafr Hamra

It is a historic building located in northwest of Aleppo, Syria. It is the oldest surviving Byzantine church, dating back to the 5th century. The church is commonly known as Simeon’s Castle and carries a name parallel to the original Symeon the Stylite, the Crusader church is very well preserved, St Simeon’s column is still visible as a two-metre-high boulder in the centre of the courtyard. The octagonal courtyard is surrounded by four basilicas in the shape of a cross and is called the Church of the Four Basilicas. The eastern basilica is slightly larger than the others and was the most important, hosting all the major ceremonies. The excavated floor bears witness to the traces of pilgrims’ knees. The southern wall of the eastern basilica adjoins the chapel and the monastery. The monastery was founded to take advantage of the two fertile plains that surrounded it. Opposite the southern basilica along the Holy Way is the baptistery, built a little later than the main church, but an important part of the pilgrimage community. Described as ‘one of the most magnificent remains of Christian architecture in all of Syria’, it was built in two phases – first the baptistery itself, and later the associated chapel. The octagonal cylinder that surmounts the square base of the building on the outside was topped with a wooden roof in the shape of a cone or dome. The inner octagon was surrounded by a rectangular outer building. At the eastern end of the chamber is the semi-circular absidiola, a strange channel with steps leading up to it. To the west of the baptistery is the processional road leading to Simeon’s monastery. At the beginning of this road is the archaeological arch that leads from the monastery to the baptistery.