"Seydnaya" Saydnaya by maykal

I might have mentioned that my host family in Damascus were Christians, and that they had all manner of gawdy icons around the house...a collage of an ill-looking Virgin Mary made out of sweet wrappers, a couple of gold saints and, my personal favourite, a clock in the shape of Jesus, his arms telling the time (at 2.45 and 9.15, he was in the crucifix position!!). You may wonder where you can buy similarly tasteful objects for yourself...well, the answer is Seydnaya!

Not far from Ma'aloula, the village of Seydnaya is fairly nondescript apart from a huge monastery complex on the hilltop which attracts hundreds of visitors (both Muslim and christian) at weekends. While the monastery from afar does look impressive (from some angles, it can almost resemble a Tibetan monastery), I have to say that the overall impression that stuck in my mind was that of a tacky religious theme park. Like the Vatican, Seydnaya did not strike me as a particularly holy place...you know some places have this atmosphere which even a non-believer like me can feel? Well, I did not feel it here. Maybe I just visited on the wrong day. Nevertheless, Seydnaya is a nice day trip for those based in Damascus, and you can find out more by looking at the travelogue on my Ma'aloula page ;@P