Wadi al-Nasara

Wadi al-Nasara, Arabic for Valley of Christians, is an area in western Syria administratively part of Homs Governorate, centered near coordinates 34 degrees 46 minutes north, 36 degrees 16 minutes east. The valley is predominantly inhabited by Greek Orthodox Christians, whose church falls under the Archdiocese of Akkar, based in Lebanon and led by the Greek Orthodox Metropolitan Basilius Mansour, who also oversees Safita and Tartus. It contains more than thirty villages and, before the Syrian civil war, drew visitors to sites including Saint George's Monastery in al-Mishtaya, the Krak des Chevaliers fortress in al-Husn, and the shrine known as Lady of the Valley in al-Nasirah. Several of its villages have produced notable figures in politics, athletics, literature and medicine.