ALEPPO — Christians in Syria’s northwestern province of Idlib celebrated Saint Anna’s Day Aug. 28 at an Armenian Apostolic Church dedicated to the saint, 10 years after the church was closed. 

Religious rituals and hymn singing accompanied the inaugural celebration that was held in a joyful climate, amid security measures from Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), which controls the province.

The church was closed down shortly after the Syrian war erupted in 2011, after opposition and jihadist groups took control of Idlib, prompting the displacement of a large number of Christians toward areas under the Syrian government’s control. 

A Christian notable residing in the village of Yacoubia, in the southwestern Idlib countryside, told Al-Monitor, “Dozens of Christians, including clerics, hailing from the villages of Qunaya, al-Jadida and Yacoubia in the Idlib countryside took part Aug. 28 in the opening ceremony of St. Anna’s church in Yacoubia. The ceremony was held on Saint Anna’s Day, which is celebrated on the last Sunday of August of every year. The area’s Armenian Orthodox Christians would celebrate this day and practice their religious rituals before the outbreak of the Syrian revolution and before the government lost control over the area.”