It has stood for centuries above the ancient settlement at Maaloula, one of a handful of villages in the mountains northeast of Damascus where Aramaic, the language of Jesus Christ, is still spoken.
But on Tuesday, as Syrian army officers showed off their latest conquest in the long back-and-forth war with the country's rebels, the monastery of St Sergius was a sorry sight.
The same shellfire that had helped to drive the rebels out had breached its massive limestone walls and, inside what had long been seen as a symbol of Syria's religious freedom, broken icons lay on the ground alongside crosses, catechisms, and images of the Virgin Mary - though it was not possible to ascertain the cause.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/syria/10768900/Syria-war-Maaloulas-monastery-destroyed-after-Assad-forces-drive-rebels-out.html
It has stood for centuries above the ancient settlement at Maaloula, one of a handful of villages in the mountains northeast of Damascus where Aramaic, the language of Jesus Christ, is still spoken.
But on Tuesday, as Syrian army officers showed off their latest conquest in the long back-and-forth war with the country's rebels, the monastery of St Sergius was a sorry sight.
The same shellfire that had helped to drive the rebels out had breached its massive limestone walls and, inside what had long been seen as a symbol of Syria's religious freedom, broken icons lay on the ground alongside crosses, catechisms, and images of the Virgin Mary - though it was not possible to ascertain the cause.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/syria/10768900/Syria-war-Maaloulas-monastery-destroyed-after-Assad-forces-drive-rebels-out.html