Scars of war linger on Syria’s Saint Simeon monastery

DAYR SIM’AN, Syria: Near the base of a column atop which Saint Simeon Stylites once perched, scattered stones lay bare the damage inflicted on the surrounding Byzantine monastery in northern Syria by war, looting and rampant illegal excavations. AFP accompanied a French archaeological delegation to inspect the site after more than a decade of conflict and assess what could be restored. The fifth-century monastery and its church are, alongside hundreds of abandoned ancient villages in northern Syria known as the “dead” or “forgotten cities,” a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

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