Stunning Photos of Pre-War Syria: Peaceful Life and Holy Places

(Orthodox Christianity) Fri, Jun 14 2019 | 910 words 3,271 Comments

Photographer Vasily Nesterenko visited Syria in 2010, shortly before the beginning of the warfare that has literally devastated and destroyed this wonderful country. According to those who have visited that country before 2011, the Christian and Muslim communities in pre-war Syria coexisted peacefully, and the Christian community mostly consisted of Orthodox Christians. Vasily visited the cities of Damascus, Holms, Bosra, the famous Krak des Chevaliers Castle of the Knights Templar, venerated holy shrines of the Orthodox monastic communities on Cherubim Mountain, the “Saidnaya” icon of the Mother of God, and the much-suffering St. Thecla’s Convent in Ma'loula. He photographed the site believed to be where Jesus Christ appeared to the Apostle Paul in Kaukab, took pictures of the interior of the St. George’s Basilica in the town of Izra, and of other wonderful places.
We believe that the following photo gallery will show the long-suffering Syrian land from a different side little known to majority of our readers—as a Christian land in which our brothers and sisters in faith have prayed for past 2000 years.

Photos by Vasily Nesterenko / Pravoslavie.ru
Translation by Dmitry Lapa

Sketches of Damascus

Photo by Vasily Nesterenko / Pravoslavie.ru

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Photo by Vasily Nesterenko / Pravoslavie.ru

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Photo by Vasily Nesterenko / Pravoslavie.ru

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Photo by Vasily Nesterenko / Pravoslavie.ru

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Photo by Vasily Nesterenko / Pravoslavie.ru

The Krak des Chevaliers Castle of the Knights Templar

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Photo by Vasily Nesterenko / Pravoslavie.ru

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Photo by Vasily Nesterenko / Pravoslavie.ru

Bosra, amphitheater in the old city

Photo by Vasily Nesterenko / Pravoslavie.ru

Damascus, the Chapel of St. John the Baptist within the Umayyad Mosque

Photo by Vasily Nesterenko / Pravoslavie.ru

Kaukab, the site where the Savior first appeared to Saul, future Apostle Paul

Photo by Vasily Nesterenko / Pravoslavie.ru

Izra, the Church of Greatmartyr George the Victory-Bearer

Photo by Vasily Nesterenko / Pravoslavie.ru

Homs, the Church of the Girdle of the Mother of God

Photo by Vasily Nesterenko / Pravoslavie.ru

The Monastery of the Holy Prophet Elias near Saidnaya

Photo by Vasily Nesterenko / Pravoslavie.ru

Saidnaya, the Convent in honor of the “Our Lady of Saidnaya” Icon

Photo by Vasily Nesterenko / Pravoslavie.ru

The monastery on the Cherubim Mountain

Photo by Vasily Nesterenko / Pravoslavie.ru

Ma’loula, the Convent of St. Thecla, Equal-to-the-Apostles

Photo by Vasily Nesterenko / Pravoslavie.ru

Source: Orthodox Christianity

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