Monastery of Saint James the Mutilated (Qara)

The National Museum of Damascus holds a section from a fresco that once decorated the apse of the altar of the monastery's church. The fragment dates from the Ayyubid dynasty.

"The panel portrays a winged angel whose head is surrounded by a halo of light. His hair is long and his head is tied with a fillet. He wears white clothing and lifts his right hand in benediction, while holding a rope in his left hand. His gaze reflects piety and faith. The panel was executed in varying shades of brown and grey in addition to red, blue and green.

Art historians note that the iconographic facial features are those of the Archangel Michael, one of the highest and most important of the angels. Indeed, the folds of the garments, the features of the face and the style of shading conform very closely to depictions on the third-layer paintings of the Monastery of Mar Musa al-Habashi (St Moses, the Ethiopian) which lies nearby and flourished contemporaneously."[1]

In 2013, as part of the Syrian Civil War, after Al Nusra siege, the army of Hezbollah break the siege and save the monastic community <ref>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rx2YMPox9tw

The monastery's website offers an eyewitness report of wartime events in the village of Qara.

• Agnes Mariam de la Croix, a Mother Superior of this monastery

• Monastery of Saint James the Mutilated website