Sarmada ( ar, سرمدا) is a town in the

Harem District Harem District ( ar-at, منطقة حارم, manṭiqat Ḥārim) is a district of the Idlib Governorate in northwestern Syria. The administrative centre is the city of Harem. At the 2004 census, it had a population of 175,482. Sub-districts Th ...

Idlib Governorate Idlib Governorate ( ar, مُحافظة ادلب / 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, Ham ...

of Syria.Sarmada
Esyria It is in the extreme northwest of Syria near the border with Turkey. 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 modern-day Turkey and Syria. The principality was much smaller than the County of Edessa or the Kingdom of Jerusalem. It exte ...

and the

Artuqids The Artuqid dynasty (alternatively Artukid, Ortoqid, or Ortokid; , pl. ; ; ) was a Turkoman dynasty originated from tribe that ruled in eastern Anatolia, Northern Syria and Northern Iraq in the eleventh through thirteenth centuries. The Artuqi ...

on June 28, 1119.

Column of Sarmada

The town is distinguished by the

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lett ...

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 may refer to: Common uses * Capital city, a municipality of primary status ** List of national capital cities * Capital letter, an upper-case letter Economics and social sciences * Capital (economics), the durable produced goods used fo ...

on top.

Monastery of Saint Daniel, Breij, Hisn ad-Dair, Crusader castle

The Monastery of Saint Daniel, Syria (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. A monastery called Hisn ad-Dair near Sarmada was given to

Alan of Gael Alan may refer to: People *Alan (surname), an English and Turkish surname *Alan (given name), an English given name **List of people with given name Alan ''Following are people commonly referred to solely by "Alan" or by a homonymous name.'' * A ...

Baldwin II of Jerusalem Baldwin II, also known as Baldwin of Bourcq or Bourg (; – 21August 1131), was Count of Edessa from 1100 to 1118, and King of Jerusalem from 1118 until his death. He accompanied his cousins Godfrey of Bouillon and Baldwin of Boulogne to 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 fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by military orders. Scholars debate the scope of the word ''castle'', but usually consider it to be the private fortified r ...

with three

watchtower A watchtower or watch tower is a type of fortification used in many parts of the world. It differs from a regular tower in that its primary use is military and from a turret in that it is usually a freestanding structure. Its main purpose is t ...

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 Roman culture, and some of the richest buildings in Roman architecture, though only a few survive in any sort of complete state. Today they remain "the most obvious symbol of R ...

dedicated to

Zeus Zeus or , , ; grc, Δῐός, ''Diós'', label=genitive Boeotian Aeolic and Laconian grc-dor, Δεύς, Deús ; grc, Δέος, ''Déos'', label=genitive el, Δίας, ''Días'' () is the sky and thunder god in ancient Greek religion, ...

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 A cella (from Latin for small chamber) or naos (from the Greek ναός, "temple") is the inner chamber of an ancient Greek or Roman temple in classical antiquity. Its enclosure within walls has given rise to extended meanings, of a hermit's or ...

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 c ...

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
{{Idlib Governorate, harem Populated places in Harem District Ancient Roman temples Roman sites in Syria Tourist attractions in Syria Archaeological sites in Aleppo Governorate