Mar Musa

Deir Mar Musa al-Habashi is a monastic community of the Syriac Catholic Church located near the town of Nabk, 80 km north of Damascus, on the eastern slopes of the Anti-Lebanon and in the middle point of old silk road linking China. The main church of the monastic compound hosts precious frescoes dating to the 11th century. This monastery became well-known because of its Italian priest Paolo Dall’Oglio, who refurbished this ruined temple in 1970’s and promoted it as a frontline of dialogue between Islamic and western world after the 911. Mar Musa stopped its religious function during the Syrian war and Father Paolo was kidnapped by ISIS and his fate is unknown.