When we reach the archeological area of Al-Farma, we see the ruined wall of the Al-Farma Fort, as well as two Roman baths, one in the north of the city and the other in the south. We also find ruins of a circular church, which is one of the five churches in the world with a circular shape, dating back to the fifth century AD. There is also a Roman castle that was reconstructed and restored in the Abbasid era in the year 853 AD, and in front of the castle there is a Roman theater.
On the eastern side of the castle, there was the monastery of the Virgin Mary, which gathered more than 5,000 monks, under the leadership of Abba Isodoros Al-Farmy in 380 AD. There is also what is called the Hill of Churches, the most famous of which is the large basilica church, which was discovered in 1997 AD, and its remainders are still present. Among the factors helping to determine the date of these antiquities is finding many bronze coins dating back to the fourth, fifth and sixth centuries AD, during the discovery.
There is also what is called the Cave of the Holy Family, which is a large room having an entrance with a staircase going down and an exit from the other side with a staircase going up, and it is said that the Holy Family rested there one day and one night.
Al-Farma has very large areas of buildings ruins that borders its banks. The building ruins include underground rooms, stairs, basements, interior corridors, Roman columns and crosses carved in rock pieces used as part of the old buildings.
The importance of Al-Farma has emerged in recent years through the excavations carried out by the Supreme Council of Antiquities, where five ancient churches were discovered and the search is still underway to discover more. Dr. Mohamed Abdel Al-Sami’ at the Sorbonne University in Paris, who is the first to start the excavation process to reveal the churches, says that the church building consists of two parts, the western wing, which was designed for worshipers, and the eastern wing in the form of a round building where liturgical prayers were held. We find this system in all the destroyed churches.
