Book Description
Many of the buildings are family farm-houses or community facilities, but of particular importance are the hundreds of churches which were built. Numerous pilgrims visited the area to pay homage to St Symeon the Stylite and the many other monks and martyrs who inspired them. Carvings and inscriptions remain as a record of the art and beliefs of both pilgrims and local people. Some are devotional phrases or symbols; others commemorate the people who founded churches, hostelries and town halls.
This book contains a comprehensive set of photographs and reconstructions showing the variety of buildings and relics which have been discovered, including ornamented churches and liturgical instruments, baptisteries, monasteries and pilgrimage sites. It also includes a chapter on the sites of pagan worship from the same period, and concludes with an examination of the influence of Byzantine art on Islamic and European art, and the eventual decline of the population of the Syrian limestone massifs.
