Maaloula is nestled in a picturesque gorge in the middle of the eastern slopes of the Anti-Lebanon Mountains, at an altitude of 1500 to 1650 meters above sea level. Today, the village of Maaloula has no more than five thousand residents and several dozen churches clinging directly to the sheer cliffs. Everything here is unusual and very picturesque. Steep carved steps, like hanging threads, connect the terraces of the streets. Houses with flat roofs and balconies overhanging the cliffs, natural cornices, and caves are intertwined into a single architectural ensemble that has formed over centuries. Just as a mother tenderly embraces her child, the rocky towers surrounding Maaloula embrace it from all sides, resembling royal crowns.
According to archaeologists, this area is one of the oldest regions of human settlement in the Middle East, inhabited for over 50,000 years. The slopes of the mountains descending to the village are densely riddled with caves. These stone shelters were used by successive generations for living and burial, as well as for protection from enemies and bad weather. In ancient times, the modest settlement at the site of modern Maaloula belonged to the kingdom of Homs. During the Roman period, there was a small town called Seleucia. However, the real birth of Maaloula occurs during the Byzantine era, when it began to play an increasingly significant role. From the 4th to the 17th centuries, it housed one of the notable episcopal sees in church history. The local bishop Eutychius participated in the First Ecumenical Council in 325. The exploration of Maaloula began from the summit of Mount Kalamun. For pilgrims and tourists, a magnificent hotel has been built here, from whose windows the majestic panorama of the Syrian expanses, soaring cliffs, and the domes of fairy-tale churches can be seen.
Mar Sarkis, or the Monastery of Saint Sergius, is located right at the top. The slope is chaotically strewn with dark entrances to caves. The first Christian ascetics lived in them. The Roman legionary Sergius and his brother Bacchus, having become secret adherents of Christianity, refused to offer sacrifices to pagan gods. This monastery, named after them, was founded on the site of a pagan temple in the 4th century, specifically in 313, when the Byzantine Emperor Constantine proclaimed Christianity a permitted religion.
The Monastery of Saint Sergius is one of the oldest functioning monasteries in the world. The icons in the monastery's church are unique. Many were painted by the famous icon painter Michael from Crete. There are two icons gifted to the monastery in 1943 by General Anders, who lived in Maaloula for a long time. The two altars shaped like bowls are also unique. Every year on October 7, the feast day of Saint Sergius and Bacchus, grand services are held in Mar Sarkis. On ordinary days, it is not crowded here. The silence is broken by prayers, as they were a thousand years ago, sounding in the native language of the locals—Aramaic.
Aramaic is one of the oldest languages on the planet. Three thousand years ago, it was spoken by Semitic tribes that roamed throughout the Middle East. Those nomads were called Arameans. It so happened that they did not form a single nation or create a cohesive state, but their language gradually became a language of interethnic communication. It is the language of Jesus Christ.
