Are you kidding me?

.... sitting on a pole.....

St Simeon.... was sainted.... for sitting on a pole.....

You've got to be kidding me.

Not only that, they built a basilica at the place of one of his pole sittings.

Thankfully it was a magnificent place that he decided to.... sit on a pole...
It's all ruined now.

But the splendour of the place remains.
Across the plains we could see the rockiness of Syria, carefully ploughed fields and plantations of olives.
In such a harsh landscape, it was amazing that so many people managed to make their living. Even more amazing that so many had lived here for so many years.