Basilica of St. Sergius

The Basilica of St. Sergius is a ruined 5th-century Byzantine church dedicated to the famous saint St. Sergius, a Roman soldier martyred c.303 under Maximian. The church was a major pilgrimage site and was later shared with Muslims as a place of worship. It is located in Rasafa (or Risafe) in central Syria, which is now an isolated archaeological site, according to sacred destination.

Rasafa was probably inhabited in Assyrian times. In the Roman period (3rd century), a road ran through Rasafa from the Euphrates River to Palmyra. Diocletian built a fort here to defend against Persian attacks. It was also around this time that a Christian cult of St. Sergius developed in the town, centered on the site of his grave.

According to early Christian accounts, Sergius and Bacchus were officers in the Roman army on the Syrian frontier. They were favorites of the Roman emperor Maximian, but they incurred his wrath by refusing to sacrifice to the pagan god Jupiter because they were Christians. Maximian demoted Sergius and Bacchus, ordering them to be costumed in women’s dress and marched through the streets. They were then sent to Rasafa, where they were scourged so severely that Bacchus died. The martyrology reports that boards were nailed to Sergius’ feet, upon which he was forced to walk before being beheaded.

By the 5th century, Sergius and Bacchus were among the most popular and revered martyrs in the East. In 431 Alexander, archbishop of Hierapolis, restored the church over Sergius’ grave and shortly afterward Rasafa became a bishopric. The Byzantine emperor Justinian I made Rasafa an archdiocese, changing its name to Sergiopolis, and had churches built in the saints’ honor at Constantinople and Acre.

The church at Rasafa became a major pilgrimage site in the East. Sergius and Bacchus were designated protectors of the Byzantine army, and numerous Eastern sanctuaries and churches were dedicated to them. Their veneration reached the West as well: a mass ascribed to Pope St. Gelasius I is assigned to them. Christian desert nomads still regard Sergius as their patron saint.

Although Justinian had funded additional fortifications, Rasafa finally fell to the Persians in 616. After the Arab invasion, it was occupied by Hisham abd al-Malek, who added a large summer residence for himself.

After his death, the Abbasids razed the city to the ground; it remained occupied after that but the population was much reduced. Rasafa was finally abandoned in the 13th century, when the Mongols swept across northern Syria.

M.W