تقلا

Just a short hike up a hillside opposite Qalaat Samaan (قلعة سمعان) is the small Byzantine site of Taqla (تقلا). This settlement was constructed in the mid-fifth century around a small church, the western facade of which represents the only decently preserved structure surviving today. The plan of the church was typical of the columned basilicas of the mid-fifth century, with the apse flanked by …