Archeological door returns to church of Mar Serkis and Bacchus convent
in Ma’aloula – Video
27/12/2014
Damascus Countryside, SANA- An archeological wooden door dating back
to 1700 years ago was restored to the church of Mar Serkis and Bacchus
convent in Ma’aloula city in Damascus countryside after being stolen
by armed terrorist organizations.
“I knew by chance that the Mayor of Ras Baalbek area in Lebanon has
bought the door of the convent’s church from one of the Lebanese
people from Arsal who traffic in archeological pieces stolen and
smuggled from Syria in general and from Ma’aloula in particular and he
maintained it to be able to restore it to Syria later,” Syrian
expatriate Ana Mas’ad said.
“I offered to give the mayor a sum of money to restore the
archeological door, yet he rejected, and said ‘We know the meaning of
war and our goal is the return of the church’s door to its place.”
Mas’ad added.
Mas’ad made several contacts with Lebanese media, the Syrian Embassy
in Lebanon, the Ministry of Tourism and Damascus Countryside
Department of Archeology and Museums to take the required measures for
the return of the archeological piece on Christmas.
She affirmed that Syrian expatriates should preserve the cultural and
historical image of their homeland and convey a bright image about it
to the public opinion wherever they are.
Many other archeological artifacts have been restored to the convent
including some icons and brass crosses.
“We came here before Christmas to start its happy atmosphere from
here…In spite of our suffering; our belief is stronger than any
challenge or pain.” Greek-Melkite Catholic Patriarch of Antioch and
All the East Gregorios III Laham said while presiding over a mass held
at the convent on the occasion of restoring the archeological door.
Laham considered that the return of the door and some other
archeological pieces to the convent “Gives us hope that Syria’s doors
will be open again before the entire world,” affirming the solidarity
of all the Syrians.
“We will return united homeland, people, heart and vision…Peace and
security will return to Syria,”Laham said, calling for amity and
tolerance.
After the mass, Minister of Tourism Bishr Yazaji stressed that the
main role of the government is to protect all religious sanctities in
Syria, saying “Ma’aloula will return to be a beating heart of life and
a destination for pilgrims despite of all the destruction in it at the
hands of terrorists.”
For his part, Minister of Culture Issam Khalil said that the Syrians
are determined to live and that their message in the life is a message
of love and peace, stressing that all the archeological pieces which
have been stolen by terrorists are documented by the Ministry in order
to not allow them to traffic in these pieces at the international
markets.
Damascus Countryside Governor Hussein Makhlouf said that work is
underway to reconstruct the buildings and shops in Ma’aloula city.
More than 93 archeological pieces have been restored by Syria in
cooperation the Lebanese Archeology and Museums General Directorate
and in coordination with the United Nations Educational, Scientific
and Cultural Organization “UNESCO” which has issued a list in all
languages to attract the attention to the Syrian archeological
artifacts.
From: A. Papazian