Sarmada () is a town in the Harem District,

Idlib Governorate Idlib Governorate ( / ALA-LC: ''Muḥāfaẓat Idlib'') is one of the 14 governorates of Syria. It is situated in northwestern Syria, bordering Turkey's Hatay province to the north, Aleppo Governorate to the east, Hama Governorate to the sou ...

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

.Sarmada
Esyria It is in the extreme northwest of Syria near the border with

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

. A church was consecrated in Sarmada by Patriarch Elias of Antioch in 722 CE. It is also the place in which the Battle of Sarmada took place between the

Principality of Antioch The Principality of Antioch (; ) was one of the Crusader states created during the First Crusade which included parts of Anatolia (modern-day Turkey) and History of Syria#Medieval era, Syria. The principality was much smaller than the County of ...

and the Artukids on June 28, 1119.

Monuments

Column of Sarmada

The town is distinguished by the Roman tomb of Alexandras, dated to the second century CE. The tomb is rectangular and supports two columns, composed of thirteen cylicrical stones, joined together at the tenth cylinder by a horizontal piece with a further

capital Capital and its variations may refer to: Common uses * Capital city, a municipality of primary status ** Capital region, a metropolitan region containing the capital ** List of national capitals * Capital letter, an upper-case letter Econom ...

on top.

Monastery of Saint Daniel and Hisn ad-Dair

The Monastery of Saint Daniel (also known as Breij or Braij or al-Breij) is located 2 km west of the town, perched in a hillside location about 400 metres from the road. The monastery is dated to the 6th century CE during the later monastic phase of the

Dead Cities The Dead Cities () or Forgotten Cities () are a group of 700 abandoned settlements in northwest Syria between Aleppo and Idlib. Around 40 villages grouped in eight archaeological parks situated in north-western Syria provide an insight into rura ...

. A monastery called Hisn ad-Dair near Sarmada was given to Alan of Gael by

Baldwin II of Jerusalem Baldwin II, also known as Baldwin of Bourcq (; – 21August 1131), was Count of Edessa from 1100 to 1118, and King of Jerusalem from 1118 until his death. He accompanied Godfrey of Bouillon and Baldwin of Boulogne to the Holy Land during the ...

in 1121 AD, when it was described as a fortified monastery. There is also mention of a

castle A castle is a type of fortification, fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by Military order (monastic society), military orders. Scholars usually consider a ''castle'' to be the private ...

with three

watchtower A watchtower or guardtower (also spelt watch tower, guard tower) is a type of military/paramilitary or policiary tower used for guarding an area. Sometimes fortified, and armed with heavy weaponry, especially historically, the structures are ...

s in the area.

Roman temple

A further 4 km along the road towards Baqirha is a

Roman temple Ancient Roman temples were among the most important buildings in culture of ancient Rome, Roman culture, and some of the richest buildings in Architecture of ancient Rome, Roman architecture, though only a few survive in any sort of complete ...

dedicated to

Zeus Zeus (, ) is the chief deity of the List of Greek deities, Greek pantheon. He is a sky father, sky and thunder god in ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology, who rules as king of the gods on Mount Olympus. Zeus is the child ...

Epigraphic Epigraphy () is the study of inscriptions, or epigraphs, as writing; it is the science of identifying graphemes, clarifying their meanings, classifying their uses according to dates and cultural contexts, and drawing conclusions about the wr ...

evidence was found dating the structure to c. 169 CE. The temple features a massive gateway and

cella In Classical architecture, a or naos () is the inner chamber of an ancient Greek or Roman temple. Its enclosure within walls has given rise to extended meanings: of a hermit's or monk's cell, and (since the 17th century) of a biological cell ...

along with one surviving column of what once was a four columned

portico A portico is a porch leading to the entrance of a building, or extended as a colonnade, with a roof structure over a walkway, supported by columns or enclosed by walls. This idea was widely used in ancient Greece and has influenced many cu ...

References

External links

Column of Sarmada on 3Darchaeology.blogspot.co.uk

Photo of the Column of Sarmada on Flickr

Sarmada on Wikimapia

Images of alleged clandestine excavations being carried out at an archaeological site in Sarmada on the Facebook page of Le patrimoine archéologique syrien en danger
{{Portal bar, Asia, History Populated places in Harem District Ancient Roman temples Roman sites in Syria Tourist attractions in Syria Archaeological sites in Aleppo Governorate