Gorgias Encyclopedic Dictionary of the Syriac Heritage: Electronic Edition
Kfar Helda
Village in Lebanon, on the right bank of the Nahr al-Jaouz, ca. 15 km. from Batrun. Ruins near the present agglomeration mark the site of an abandoned village with a small church known as the Chapel of Saydat Kharāʾib (Our Lady of the Ruins). A fire caused the half-dome of the apse to be covered with a layer of soot, hiding a depiction of the Deisis Vision. The nave’s fragmented decoration consists of a tonsured St. Domatius on the north wall, and a fragmented Nativity scene opposite him. The estimated date of these murals is the first half of the 13th cent.
Sources
- M. Immerzeel, Identity Puzzles. Medieval Christian Art in Syria and Lebanon (OLA 184; 2009), 99.
- L. Nordiguian, ‘Note sur deux fragments de peinture à Saydet Kharayeb de Kfar Helda (Caza de Batroun)’, Tempora 14–15 (2003–2004), 187–92.
Mat Immerzeel