The Street of Friends

The wall of peace

For those traveling to Antakya as tourists, journalists, or pilgrims, you might just stumble upon a little know place called the "Street of Friends", that is, if you can find it. Nestled in Antakya's old city, the Street of Friends is run by Sister Barbara, who provides a serene environment for pilgrims, travelers, wanderers, and searchers. The adjoining buildings with old, heavy wooden doors, stone courtyards center-pieced with orange trees, is the vertex for two buildings of faith: on one side of the wall, a Catholic Church, on the other side, a Mosque.

To commemorate the joining of these two buildings of faith, Sister Barbara built a modest chapel in the main building; a sort of symbol of harmony. The chapel house itself, is a cool and dark stone room illuminated by three windows containing a shrine to the three Abrahamic religions: Christianity, Islam, and Judaism. The floor, furbished with prayer rugs, leads down the room to a quilted Wish Tree, popular in the Alawite religion for prayer, with the sidewall decorated by dozens of plaques expressing different words for peace.   

"We dare to pray for peace," Sister Barbara spoke to the people congregating in the chapel house. And after a brief pause for silent prayer, she picked up her guitar and said, "Now, let us sing."

German pilgrim in front of the Wish Tree