Saint Simeon the Stylite spent more than three decades on top of a pillar, and the ruins of the great church built around that pillar still stand in the limestone hills northwest of Aleppo. Simeon, a fifth-century monk from the region, withdrew from the world by climbing onto a column that was raised gradually to about eighteen metres, and from there he preached, prayed and advised pilgrims until his death in 459. Pilgrims came from across the Byzantine world, and within a few decades, a vast cruciform church, one of the largest of its time, rose around the base of the pillar.
Qal'at Sem'an, the fortress of Simeon, is the name given to the ruins. They include four basilicas arranged in a cross around an octagonal courtyard, with the stump of the pillar at its centre, and richly carved arches and capitals that rank among the finest examples of early Byzantine architecture. The location is on the Jebel Sem'an, a limestone massif dotted with the ruins of ancient villages, houses, churches and tombs, known as the Dead Cities, which were abandoned from the seventh century onwards and are astonishingly well preserved.
The area has been affected by years of war, and the monument was damaged in 2016 during fighting. Historically, the ride into the hills was a quiet one, along narrow roads through olive groves and stone walls, with fields of wheat and bare limestone in the sun.
Practical knowledge from before the conflict suggests that Aleppo, about thirty kilometres away, was the usual base, with fuel and services in the city. Smaller towns such as Nubl, a larger place at some distance, have a few shops. Summer is hot and dry, winter is cool and wet, and spring is the most pleasant, with wildflowers on the limestone.
If you are reading this for history alone, the site's story of a man on a pillar is worth remembering.