Liftaya ( ar, لفتايا, also spelled Laftaya) is a village in central
Syria
Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...
, administratively part of the
Homs Governorate, located southwest of
Homs
Homs ( , , , ; ar, حِمْص / ALA-LC: ; Levantine Arabic: / ''Ḥomṣ'' ), known in pre-Islamic Syria as Emesa ( ; grc, Ἔμεσα, Émesa), is a city in western Syria and the capital of the Homs Governorate. It is Metres above sea level ...
near
Lake Homs
Lake Homs ( ar, بحيرة حمص) (also called Lake Qattinah, ar, بحيرة قطينة) is a lake near Homs, Syria, fed by the Orontes River. The lake is from the city of Homs, and spans over .
The lake is artificial, created by the Lake Hom ...
. Nearby localities include
Wujuh al-Hajar
Wujuh al-Hajar ( ar, وجه الحجر, also spelled Woojeh al-Hajjar) is a village in western Syria, administratively part of the Homs Governorate, southwest of Homs. It is situated near the border with Lebanon
Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَ ...
to the southeast,
Khirbet Ghazi
Khirbet Ghazi ( ar, خربة غازي) is a village in western Syria, administratively part of the Homs Governorate
Homs Governorate ( ar, مُحافظة حمص / ALA-LC: ''Muḥāfaẓat Ḥimṣ'') is one of the fourteen governorates (provi ...
,
Khirbet al-Sawda and
Khirbet Tin Nur
Khirbet Tin Nur ( ar, خربة تين نور, also spelled Khirbat at-Teen Nour) is a town in central Syria, administratively part of the Homs Governorate, west of Homs. Nearby localities include Homs to the east, Qattinah to the southeast, Khirbe ...
to the northeast. According to the
Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), Liftaya had a population of 2,047 in the 2004 census.
[General Census of Population and Housing 2004](_blank)
Syria Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS). Homs Governorate.
Inscribed
stone lintels discovered at the town helped in studying and dating the
Christianization process of
Emesa
Homs ( , , , ; ar, حِمْص / ALA-LC: ; Levantine Arabic: / ''Ḥomṣ'' ), known in pre-Islamic Syria as Emesa ( ; grc, Ἔμεσα, Émesa), is a city in western Syria and the capital of the Homs Governorate. It is Metres above sea level ...
and its surrounding countryside. Lintels from the Palladis household, dated to 449/450 attest to clear pagan traditions. The first waves of Christianization came in the 460s, when lintels bearing crosses were discovered with increasing numbers alongside pagan ones. The full Christinization of the village is dated to 508/510 at the time when the village's first church was built.
References
{{Homs Governorate, homs
Populated places in Homs District