Serjilla is an abandoned settlement, part of a group of 40 similar sites known as the “Dead Cities” that are organised into 8 archaeological parks in northwest Syria. – HeritageDaily – Archaeology News
Source: Serjilla – The Dead City – HeritageDaily – Archaeology News
From a giant basalt lion to its own Notre-Dame, Idlib’s ancient monuments are in danger.
As air strikes rain down, it is important to highlight the Syrian province’s rich cultural heritage…
It was striking as Paris’s landmark site of Notre Dame Cathedral burned before our eyes, how few seemed to know that Notre Dame’s architectural design, its twin towers flanking an elaborate entrance, its rose windows, its rib vaulting and its spire (la fleche) owe their origins to Middle Eastern predecessors. The earliest example says, Arab America contributing writer, Diana Darke, stands on a hillside in northwest Syria, in Idlib province, in a church built from local limestone in the mid-5th century. It’s called Qalb Lozeh (‘Heart of the Almond’ in Arabic) rightly praised as one of the best-preserved examples of Syrian church architecture, a magnificently proportioned broad-aisled basilica, the forerunner of what came to be known as the Romanesque period.
Source: The Heritage of Notre Dame–Less European than People Think
An arched entrance flanked by two towers, elaborate carvings and a broad-aisled nave: a 5th century limestone church in northwestern Syria is the architectural forerunner of France’s famed Notre-Dame cathedral. “The specific similarities between Notre-Dame and Qalb Lozeh are first and foremost, the twin tower design flanking the elaborate arched portal,” says Darke.
Source: Notre Dame’s architecture inspired by 5th-century gothic church in Syria’s Idlib
I was scrolling Twitter when I came across a video of a fighter in Syria wasting ammunition to destroy an ancient Byzantine building. Jihadists in Idlib, Syria, destroy what’s left of a Byzantium era archaeological building in Deir Sunbul. The site is part of the “Dead Cities,” and is on UNESCO World Heritage List.https://t.co/LozBibwuIG pic.twitter.com/DE54KKOHQk… read more »
Russian archeologist Timur Karmov, who worked on the historic sites at Palmyra after the city was liberated from ISIS control, is now leading a scientific expedition to northern Syria. He spoke to RBTH about the fight to preserve the country’s architectural monuments and why they are of particular value to Russians.
Timur Karmov, an archeologist affiliated with the Russian Cultural Ministry’s Heritage Institute, was one of the first civilians to enter Palmyra in April 2016 as part of a group of Russian cultural scientists tasked with assessing the condition of the city’s monuments following months of control by the Islamic State.
Later this month, Karmov will lead a new research expedition to northern Syria to check on the status of a UNESCO site in Aleppo Province, which is still under threat from the civil war.
RBTH: What is the purpose of this expedition?
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Aizudin Zainal
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