Al-Quniyah
Al-Quniyah is a Christian village in northwestern Syria, administratively belonging to the Idlib Governorate, located northwest of Idlib, 35 km north of Jisr ash-Shugur, and is in between Lattakia and Aleppo. Al-Quniyah is situated 450 meters above sea level. According to the Central [Bureau of Statistics (Syria)|Syria Central Bureau of Statistics], al-Quniyah had a population of 587 in the 2004 census. Its inhabitants are predominantly Catholic Christians with a small Alawite minority.
Geography
Nearby localities include Kafr Dibbin to the east, Zarzur, Amud, and Darkush to the northeast, Yakubiyah, Judaida to the west and Jisr al-Shughur to the south.Town climate is Mediterranean, whereas the winter is cold, rainy, snowy at times; the summer is warm.
History
of the Franciscan Fathers came to the village in 1878 and built a church, Monastery, clinic and the first Arabic school in northwestern Syria, they re-built the church in 1885 and the current church dates to 1932. Postal Service began in 1927 and the telephone arrived to the village in 1929. The municipality was established in 1932 and electricity came to the village in 1935 and the customs in 1937.In January 2013, during the ongoing Syrian civil war, al-Quniyah and the nearby Christian-inhabited villages of al-Yacoubiyah and Judayda were captured by anti-government rebels. The area became controlled by Salafi jihadist groups, mainly Ahrar al-Sham, Ansar al-Tawhid, Hurras al-Din, the Turkistan [Islamic Party in Syria|Turkistan Islamic Party] and later by Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham. On 11 May 2015, the village was bombed by the Syrian Air Force, leading to the death of 18 people.
Demographics
al-Quniyah represents one of the five Christian villages in the Idlib Governorate; the others are al-Yacoubiyah, Judayda, al-Ghassaniyah and Hallouz. The Christians of al-Quniyah are Catholics who adhere to the Latin Church. Some Alawite families also live in the village. In 2010 the population of the village was around 500 people during the winter and reached 2000 people during the summer, since many inhabitants lived elsewhere in the country, mainly in Aleppo and Latakia. The church organized every year a summer camp for the young of the community. During the last years before the outbreak of the Syrian civil war many inhabitants began to return to live in the village and to invest in the local agricultural economy.Since 2013, during the civil war, the Jihadist groups active in the area restricted the residents' religious freedoms and most of the properties owned by the Christians were expropriated. Most of the local Christian community abandoned the village, settling mainly in regime-controlled areas, especially in Aleppo. Refugees displaced from other regions of Syria settled in the village, as well as foreign fighters, causing a demographic change. Since 2021, the Syrian Salvation Government led by Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham has adopted a more inclusive approach, starting a policy of restitution of land, houses and businesses to Christians and encouraging them to return. Since 2023, some young Christian men and families have returned to settle in the village. At the end of 2023, there were an estimated 92 Christian families in al-Quniyah.
Many more Christian families began to return to the village since the end of 2024 to reclaim and restore their properties and settle. The new government and the local authorities began relocating displaced families, in order to return the houses to their Christian owners. The returnees are beginning to revive the village, and schools are being established for the youth.