Al-Suqaylabiyah, Syria, September 7, 2020
almasdarnews.com
While the iconic Agia Sophia cathedral in Istanbul has once again been converted into a mosque, a new Agia Sophia is set to rise in the Syrian city of Al-Suqaylabiyah.
The new church will be a replica of the 6th-century cathedral. The foundation stone of the new church was festively laid in a recent ceremony in the presence of Syrian and Russian officials and local clergy. The service was led by His Eminence Nicholas of Hama, reports Al-Masdar.
Al-Suqaylabiyah is a largely Orthodox city, where fierce battles were fought against the illegal terrorist groups. Thus, it was decided to build the new church there.
The inscription on the foundation stone reads:
Under President Bashar Hafez al-Assad of the Syrian Arab Republic, with the blessing of the Archbishop of Hama and his disciples, Nicholas Baalbaki, and the blessing of the Russian Federation, represented by the commander of the assembly of the Russian forces operating in the Syrian Arab Republic, General Alexander Yurievich Chaiko, the foundation stone of the Agia Sophia church was laid, a presentation by Nabil Shafiq Al-Abdullah on the authority of the martyrs of Suqaylabiyah, Syria and its allies and in memory of the great Agia Sophia
This step was supported and blessed by the Orthodox Christian religious leaders in both Syria and Russia, and they considered it a step of solidarity with the mother Church of Agia Sophia, and an assurance that the Turkish President will not be able to obliterate the features of this global impact on the list of UNESCO, which played a central role in Christian history over the course of 1500 years old.
“The building of an Orthodox church is of great importance for strengthening peace in the ancient Syrian land,” commented Lieutenant General Alexander Chaiko, head of the Russian troops in Syria. “It will be a historical bridge between the best spiritual and moral traditions of the past, present and future,” he explained.
orthodoxianewsagency.gr
It is also planned to erect a monument near the church to Syrian and Russian soldiers who died during the war with terrorists, TASS reports.
“The monument to Russian and Syrian soldiers who died on the territory of the Syrian Arab Republic is of particular importance. They stood shoulder to shoulder in the way of international terrorism and liberated the long-suffering Syrian land from invaders. This is not just a monument to the dead, it is a symbol of fraternal friendship,” Chaiko said.
The project was initiated by the commander of the local people’s militia, Nabdel al-Abdallah.
