Jebel Sem’an 1 Qal’atSem’an and Qal’at Salah El-Din

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Jebel Sem’an 1 Qal’atSem’an

   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.

   Read the complete Jebel Sem’an 1 Qal’atSem’an write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Jebel Sem’an 1 Qal’atSem’an is where the day begins. Next is Jebelal-A’la QalbLozé.

2. 2. Jebelal-A’la QalbLozé

   High on the limestone ridge of the Jebel al-A'la, in the north west of Syria near the Turkish border, stands one of the most beautiful early Christian churches anywhere. The basilica of Qalb Lozeh was built in the second half of the fifth century, probably as a pilgrimage church on the route to the shrine of Saint Simeon Stylites, the hermit who spent decades living on top of a pillar not far to the east. Its facade, with a great arch flanked by two towers, is one of the earliest examples of a design that would later be repeated in the Romanesque churches of Europe. The church is part of the Ancient Villages of Northern Syria, a UNESCO site listed in 2011, which includes some forty villages abandoned between the eighth and tenth centuries, often known as the Dead Cities.

   Read the complete Jebelal-A’la QalbLozé write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Jebelal-A’la QalbLozé comes up about 50 km into the recorded legs. Next is Jebel Zawiyé 2 Rouweiha.

3. 3. Jebel Zawiyé 2 Rouweiha

   Scattered across the limestone hills of north-western Syria, between Aleppo and Idlib, lie hundreds of abandoned villages from late antiquity, built of finely cut stone between the first and seventh centuries and then gradually deserted. They are known as the Dead Cities, and together they form the World Heritage site of the Ancient Villages of Northern Syria. Ruweiha, in the Jebel Zawiye, is one of the largest: houses, churches, tombs and oil presses spread over a wide area, and among them the church of Bizzos, named after a local notable whose domed tomb stands beside it, is one of the best preserved. These villages grew rich on olive oil and trade, and their stone architecture, with arched doorways, carved lintels and crosses, is remarkably intact.

   Read the complete Jebel Zawiyé 2 Rouweiha write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   about 128 km into the recorded legs you reach Jebel Zawiyé 2 Rouweiha. Next is Qal’at Salah El-Din.

4. 4. Qal’at Salah El-Din

   Few castles are as dramatic as the one that sits on a spur of rock in the coastal mountains of Syria, between two deep ravines. Qal'at Salah El-Din, or Saladin's Castle, takes its name from the Muslim leader who captured it from the Crusaders in 1188 on his campaign along the coast, but the story is much older. The site was fortified in Byzantine times, taken by the Crusaders in the early twelfth century, and strengthened with new walls and towers. The great trench that separates the castle from the rest of the ridge is cut out of solid rock, many metres deep, and in the middle of it a slender needle of stone, about twenty-eight metres high, was left standing to carry the drawbridge. It is one of the great sights of medieval military architecture.

   Read the complete Qal’at Salah El-Din write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Qal’at Salah El-Din, about halfway. Next is back through Jebel Zawiyé 2 Rouweiha.

5. 5. back through Jebel Zawiyé 2 Rouweiha

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Jebel Zawiyé 2 Rouweiha write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   back through Jebel Zawiyé 2 Rouweiha sits at 250 km, about halfway. Next is back through Jebelal-A’la QalbLozé.

6. 6. back through Jebelal-A’la QalbLozé

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Jebelal-A’la QalbLozé write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   back through Jebelal-A’la QalbLozé comes up about 420 km into the recorded legs. Next is Jebel Sem’an 1 Qal’atSem’an.

7. 7. Jebel Sem’an 1 Qal’atSem’an

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Jebel Sem’an 1 Qal’atSem’an write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Jebel Sem’an 1 Qal’atSem’an closes the day.