Our Lady of Seidnaya Forty minutes drive by car from Damascus will lead us to the small town of Seidnaya where the famous Greek Orthodox convent is located. The monastery stands on al hilly rock overlooking the farms and orchards of the Damascene plain.
Legend has it that the monastery was founded in the sixth century.
When the Byzantine Emperor Justinian was chasing a deer on to the top of the hill during a hunting game, and just as he was about to draw his bow, the deer miraculously converted into the Virgin Mary and commanded him to build a convent on the rock. Partly because of this mythical story, and partly because of the reputedly miracle-working powers of the convent's most famous icon, it has quickly become a place of pilgrimage for people from all faiths. Muslim and Christian pilgrimages alike head to Seidnaya from Lebanon, Syria and Jordan to pay homage to this great shrine. If a visitor arrives at the abbey church after eight o'clock he would encounter nuns in black veils chanting from a lectern, while a hidden priest would be echoing their chants. The abbey church is dark and shadowy with the only light coming from few lamps suspended from the ceiling on gold chains.