The last day of our short visit to Syria revealed yet more magnificent treasures - the waterwheels on the beautiful river in the city of Hama, the archetypal Crusader castle or "Krak des Chevaliers", and finally, before our return to Damascus, the mountain town of Ma'alula, where we experienced the Lord's prayer being recited in Arabic and Aramaic.

Hama is quite a large city situated on the Orontes river. Its most famous attractions are its 17 Norias (waterwheels), dating back to Byzantine times. They were originally used to route water into aqueducts leading into the town and the surrounding agricultural areas. Today, however, they are no longer used for irrigation but provide an attractive riverside setting for visitors and locals. Hama is reputed to be the most conservative Sunni Moslem city in Syria, although some districts there are exclusively christian (Greek or Syriac Orthodox). As a centre of the anti-Ba'ath opposition (mostly Moslem Brotherhood) in Syria, Hama has been the victim of severe oppression by the Assad family - in 1964, 1981 and 1982 (addendum in 2012: also in 2011, during the Syrian Uprising that formed part of the "Arab Spring").

The Krak des Chevaliers (also Crac des Chevaliers or قلعة الحصن) is located at 650m in the Homs Gap, which connects the cities of Tripoli on the coast and Homs, inland and south of Hama. It is regarded as being one of the most important preserved mediaeval castles in the world (TE Lawrence - Lawrence of Arabia - was said to have been particularly impressed). A settlement on the site was founded by Kurds in the 11thC but given to the Knights Hospitaller (Crusaders) by the Count of Tripoli in 1142. The original building was constructed from 1142-1170 and a second, major building program took place in the 13thC. Contemporary Templar (Knights Hospitaller) castles did not have the rounded towers which the Krak did and which were modelled according to the new ones designed by Richard the Lionheart between 1196 and 1198 in France. When it fell to Baibar and his Moslems in 1271, the castle became known as "Crac de l'ospital", the name "Crac des Chevaliers" being coined in the 19thC. Neither Saladdin, who came to power in 1176, nor Nur al-Din (who had ruled from 1146-1174) had been successful in conquering it. Although the castle was used for predominantly military purposes, mediaeval frescoes were discovered in the chapel in 1935, 1955 and 1978 - a surprising find.

Ma'alula is a small town in the Anti-Lebanon Qalamum mountains, just 56 km from Damascus, where the inhabitants speak a new western dialect of Aramaic. Most of the christians there are Greek-Catholic and one church is reputed to be the oldest in the world and to have been built just a few years after Jesus' crucifixion. All over the Middle East, Ma'alula is famous for its cross-raising ceremony on Sept. 14. We visited St. Sergius' (Sarkis) monastery, where the Lord's Prayer was read to us in both Aramaic and Arabic. It is situated on a hill above the village and dedicated to both Sergius and Bacchus.

Note on June 3, 2011: We were lucky to have taken in the sights of Syria in 2008. Today, it's the site of wholesale murder by the ruler who's clinging to power like a drowning man. No wonder that so many Syrians are living in exile. Eventually, they may all flee from his assassins and he will have the whole country to himself. What a tragedy!