(Homs – Zaidal)

Based on the document issued by the Ottoman Sultan to the Governor of Syria, permitting the ancient Syriac community in Zaidal, which numbered 500 people, to build a church for them, dated 1909, construction began on the Church of St. George to replace the small old church that was located to the left of the current external entrance. The construction continued until the walls were completed, reaching the roof level. However, the outbreak of World War I in 1914 halted the construction, and the tiles prepared for the church’s roof were confiscated by the Ottoman state.

During the construction hiatus, reinforced concrete started to be used in building. When construction resumed in 1919, concrete was used for the roof in its current form. The roof was designed in a completely different manner from contemporary methods, incorporating five semi-circular concrete and iron arches running perpendicular to the length of the church, supported by the side walls. Additionally, four arches were arranged to form a quarter-sphere roof for the altar. These arches were intersected by metal rods positioned parallel to the walls, approximately 90 cm apart. Concrete slabs were laid to form the first layer of the roof, and the gaps were filled with concrete, completing the roof in its present form.

Thus, the construction was completed, resulting in a church with the following dimensions: an external length of 29.08 meters, a width of 18.05 meters, an internal length of 24.07 meters, and an internal width of 12.01 meters. The wall thickness is approximately 3.02 meters, and the height without the dome is 9 meters. The construction was overseen by Sultan’s master builder Abdullah Khazzam, renowned for his family’s architectural expertise. The zealous headman of Zaidal village at the time and the church’s agent, Sheikh George Salama (Abu Fares), took charge of fundraising efforts, traveling twice to the Americas to collect donations from benefactors.

The church was consecrated during the tenure of Bishop Mar Severios Ephrem Barsoum in 1923 (later Patriarch Mar Ignatius Ephrem I Barsoum). Remarkably, the walls contain no cement but are constructed solely from stones and earth. The upper part of the walls features a gallery (Ziyah) integrated into the southern, western, and northern walls, accommodating a large number of worshippers. The altar wall was built in two layers: an inner layer of black stones and an outer layer of limestone. The interior walls were covered with a mixture of mud, gypsum, and ash.

Renovation of the church began on June 26, 1996, both inside and out. The old interior plaster was removed, revealing beautiful stone arches arranged in two rows above each other, with the black stone walls interspersed with some white stones, which were replaced and restored with black stone. The altar wall was rebuilt with black stone, and the church’s roof was re-tiled, as the concrete had begun to deteriorate over time. The renovation took approximately two years, including painting the current murals on the altar walls. His Holiness Patriarch Mar Ignatius Zakka I Iwas rededicated the church in 2001.