Saint George Monastery

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For the Byzantine monastery on the Greek island of Skyros, see Monastery of Saint George.

Saint George Monastery or Deir Mar Jirjis (Arabic: دير مارجرجس‎) is a historic Greek Orthodox monastery located in northwestern Syria's "Valley of the Christians" (وادي النصارة, Wadi al-Nasara) in the town of Zweitina, a village belonging to the Homs Governorate, just a few kilometers north of the famous castle Krak des Chevaliers.

The valley is a regional center of the Greek Orthodox Christianity since the 6^th century. 27 of its 32 villages are today Christian, four are mainly populated by Alawi Muslims and only one, Al Qal'a just under the Krak des Chevaliers, is Sunni Muslim.

[edit] History

It is said that the monastery was built over remains of an ancient statue of the god Homerus by the Byzantine emperor Justinian I sometime in the 5^th century. The monastery occupies a 6,000 m² land and was built entirely from Byzantine styled stone.

Entrance to Saint George Monastery

The modern church was rebuilt in 1857. Most of the older monastery's items are preserved and displayed in the monastery. Its entrance features a triple arch and two central supporting columns of Byzantine origin. A historical big stone with religious carvings can be found in the monastery's southern gate. The wooden iconostasis found inside the church are decorated with impressive carvings and are magnificent presentations of art, its gold painted icons depict various scenes from the life of Christ. Beneath the monastery's main courtyard there is an older 13^th century chapel with a smaller iconostasis, older than 300 years, its icons depict scenes from the life of Saint George (a popular saint among Middle Eastern Christians). At this lower level there is also an entrance to what is believed to be the original 6^th century monastery and several large amphoras. The Saint George Monastery also displays many other ancient items like crosses, writings, books, carvings, goblets, and other tools. It is also home to a manuscript written by the caliph Omar bin al-Khattab, which discussed the relationships between Muslims and Christians.