the Church of Saint Hanania

In the Bab Sharqi quarter of Old Damascus, the Church of Saint Hanania lies about five meters below street level, marking the spot where tradition says Hanania baptized Saul of Tarsus, later Saint Paul. Built over what is believed to be a 1st century home and later rebuilt as a Byzantine church in the 5th–6th centuries, the small stone chapel retains its humble altar, icons of Paul’s conversion, and an atmosphere of quiet devotion. Visitors descend narrow steps into its cool, vaulted rooms, where the worn stones seem to echo nearly two millennia of prayer. Local tradition speaks of ancient passageways once linking it to other quarters of the Old City, hinting at its role in the hidden life of early Christians. Still an active place of worship, it remains a key pilgrimage stop and a living link to Damascus’s earliest Christian history, drawing both the faithful and the curious into its intimate, timeless space.