As happens every year, beautiful Christmas trees and decorations have brought joy to the Antiochian Greek Orthodox and Melkite Catholic villages of Syria, particularly in Wadi al-Nasara ("Valley of the Christians").
Marmarita: is a village whose inhabitants are predominantly Greek Orthodox and Greek Catholic Christians. It is one of the largest villages in Valley of the Christians, with over 2,000 inhabitants.
Tannurin: is a village of less than 500 in Wadi al-Nasara. Again, the village is predominately Greek Orthodox and Greek Catholic.
Zweitina: is a small Greek Orthodox Christian village, perhaps most famous for its al-Fawwar spring, which is named so because it flows sporadically; this spring was called Sabte during the reign of the Roman emperor Titus in Syria.
According to the Syria Central Bureau of Statistics (CNS), Zweitina had a population of 697 in the 2004 census. Its inhabitants are predominantly Christians.
The village, in the Valley of the Christians, has a Greek Orthodox Church and a Greek Catholic Church.
Zaidal: is a neighbourhood of Homs city with a large Christian community.
Although a large part of the valley's population comes originally from Lebanon's northern Christian villages who migrated in mid-19th century to escape the Mount Lebanon Civil War, a continued Greek presence has been there since the ancient times.
Demographically, the valley has been a regional centre of Christianity since the 6th century. Of its 32 villages, 27 are Christian (mainly Greek Orthodox), four are mainly populated by Alawite Muslims and one, al-Husn, is mainly Sunni Muslim.
Photos from: Wadi Alnasara News.
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