The Orthodox Convent of St Thecla in the Syrian town of Maaloula will soon be open again to visiting pilgrims and tourists.
Catholic news agency Agenzia Fides reports that reconstruction work on the monastery is nearing completion and cites Russian media as reporting that nuns have already returned to the monastery.
Maaloula, located 55 kilometres north-east of Damascus, was freed from militants in 2014, after which the restoration of the town and monastery began.
Maaloula, part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is known throughout the world as one of the places where Aramaic, the language of Jesus, is still spoken.
It houses both the Convent of St Thecla (Tekla) – named for a woman believed to have been a disciple of St Paul who is said to have hidden here while fleeing Roman persecution – and Mar Sarkis, a sanctuary dedicated to Saints Sergius and Bacchus, which belongs to the Greek-Melkite Catholic Church and houses two of the oldest icons in the world.
The convent was badly damaged in 2013 and at least 12 nuns kidnapped and held by Islamist fighters for months before they were released.
