St. Simeon's Church

The Church of St. Simeon the Stylite was built by a disciple of Simeon, St. Daniel the Stylite, who appealed to Emperor Leo the First with a request to perpetuate the memory of his teacher.

However, the church was built under another emperor - Zinon around the fifth century. The building is built in an octagonal shape with a diameter of 30 meters with exedras, and in the middle of the building there is a high pillar on which St. Simeon worked for the last 33 years of his 47 years on the pillars. The building is covered with a wooden dome in the form of an octagonal pyramid 40 meters high.

In the tenth century, the temple complex was surrounded by fortress walls with 27 towers, which became the beginning of the fortress of Simeon. In the XII century, the fortress was captured by the Crusaders, and a century later the building fell into desolation. Numerous pilgrims always came here for a piece of St. Simeon's column, which was believed to help with illness.