View source for Basufan

{{Infobox settlement
|official_name          = Basufan
|native_name            = باصوفان
|image_skyline          =
|imagesize              =
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|pushpin_map            =Syria
|pushpin_mapsize        =250
|subdivision_type       = [[Countries of the world|Country]]
|subdivision_name       = {{Flag|Syria}}
|subdivision_type1      = [[Governorates of Syria|Governorate]]
|subdivision_name1      = [[Aleppo Governorate]]
|subdivision_type2      = [[Districts of Syria|District]]
|subdivision_name2      = [[Afrin District]]
|subdivision_type3      = [[Nahiyah]]
|subdivision_name3      = [[Afrin Subdistrict]]
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|settlement_type        = Village<!--For Town or Village (Leave blank for the default City)-->
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|population_as_of       = 2004 census
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|population_total       = 901
|population_footnotes   = <ref name="CBS"/>
|timezone = [[Eastern European Time|EET]]
|utc_offset = +2
|timezone_DST = [[Eastern European Summer Time|EEST]]
|utc_offset_DST = +3
|coordinates            = {{coord|36|20|23|N|36|52|30|E|region:SY|display=inline}}
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'''Basufan''' ({{langx|ar|باصوفان}}; {{Langx|ku|Basûfan}})<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=علي |first=د. محمد عبدو |title=جبال الكرد: دراسة جغرافية شاملة |edition=1 |location=Afrin |pages=171 |language=ar}}</ref> (sometimes spelled Bassoûfâne, Bassoufane, Bosoufane, Bāşūfān) is an ancient village located in northwestern [[Syria]]. The village is populated by [[Yezidi Kurds]] and had a population of 901 in the 2004 census according to the [[Central Bureau of Statistics (Syria)|Syria Central Bureau of Statistics]] (CBS),<ref name="CBS">[https://archive.today/20120730224244/http://www.cbssyr.org/new%20web%20site/General_census/census_2004/NH/TAB02-15-2004.htm General Census of Population and Housing 2004]. [[Central Bureau of Statistics (Syria)|Syria Central Bureau of Statistics]] (CBS). Aleppo Governorate. {{in lang|ar}}</ref><ref name=":0" /> and had a population of 2059 according to the civil registry records at the end of 2005.<ref name=":0" />
The village is notable for being the site of a former fifth-century church dedicated to [[Saint Phocas]].
== Location ==
The village of Basufan is located in [[Aleppo Governorate]], about 30 kilometers northwest of the city of [[Aleppo]]. It is built at an altitude of 632 meters,<ref>[http://www.fallingrain.com/world/SY/09/Basufan.html Basufan, Syria Page. ''Fallingrain.com'']</ref> and is located to the east of [[Mount Simeon]].
== Description ==
The village hosts several vestiges of the [[Byzantine Empire|Byzantine]]-era settlement which are dated between the fifth and the seventh centuries. [[Howard Crosby Butler]], in 1905, at the head of an archaeological expedition from the American University of Princeton, mentioned a large Islamic cemetery located around the ancient church. He also mentioned having found the remains of another church, older and completely destroyed.<ref>Howard Crosby Butler: ''Syria. Publications of the Princeton University Archaeological Expeditions to Syria in 1904–5 and 1909. Division I: Geography and Itinerary.'' E. J. Brill, Leiden 1930, {{p.|73}}, [https://archive.org/details/publicationsdivi01prinuoft En ligne sur Archive.org]</ref> The church dedicated to Saint Phocas was probably part of a monastic complex. The same year, [[Gertrude Bell]] crossed Basufan and found the village mainly inhabited by [[Kurds]], who rented their houses during the hot summer months to Christians and Jews of Aleppo who had come on vacation.<ref>Gertrude Bell, ''Am Ende des Lavastromes. Durch die Wüsten und Kulturstätten Syriens.'' Gabriele Habinger (Hrsg.), Promedia, Wien 1991, {{p.|254}}. Édition originale : ''The Desert and the Sown'', 1908</ref>
== Church of St. Phocas ==
[[File:Church of Saint Phocas, Basufan (باصوفان), Syria - South façade, southeast corner - PHBZ024 2016 6046 - Dumbarton Oaks.jpg|thumb|South façade of the Church of Saint Phocas. Photo by Frank Kidner.]]
St. Phocas Church, now in ruins, was a [[basilica]] with three naves separated by columns. According to an inscription on the south wall, the building was dedicated to [[Saint Phocas]] and erected in 491-492.
The nave was 24 meters long and 15.4 wide. The arches of the [[nave]] rested on columns, while the outer walls were reinforced by [[pilaster]]s. To the east, the [[Apse#Chevet|chevet]] was composed of two rectangular apses framing a semicircular central apse. The two rectangular apses connected to the lateral aisles, and the south room was also open to the central apse, serving as a [[Martyrium (architecture)|martyrium]]. The building bore a resemblance to the [[Church of Saint Simeon Stylites|church of Qal'at Sem'an]]<ref>Jean-Pierre Sodini, Jean-Luc Biscop, ''Qal'at Sem'an et les chevets à colonnes de Syrie du Nord'', Syria, 1984, Volume 61, pp. 267-330, p.282, [https://www.jstor.org/stable/4198432 JSTOR]</ref> which could result from an imitation of the architecture of the latter.<ref>Michel Kaplan, ''Le sacré et son inscription dans l'espace à Byzance et en Occident'', Publications de la Sorbonne, 2001 - 318 pages, p.251 [https://books.google.com/books?id=ybSGw7Ttbo4C&q=Basufan&pg=PA251 lire en ligne]</ref> Access to the nave was through a door in the middle of the south façade, and a second access was on the west gable.<ref>Howard Crosby Butler: ''Early Churches in Syria. Fourth to Seventh Centuries.'' [[Princeton University Press]], Princeton 1929, {{p.|67}}, 69 (Plan), 70</ref>
== Photographs by Gertrude Bell ==
<gallery mode="packed" caption="">
Church of St. Phocas - Kurdish girl in doorway, carved lintel.jpg|{{center|Kurdish girl standing in doorway.}}
Basufan Church of St. Phocas - Apse and arch of Prothesis - Corinthian columns with spiral fluting and wind blown capital. Kurdish man seated in foreground.jpg|{{center|Kurdish man in front of the church apse. Twisted column, Corinthian capital.}}
Church of St. Phocas - Syriac inscription in S wall with adjoining window.jpg|{{center|Inscription in [[Syriac language|Syriac]].}}
</gallery>
==References==
{{reflist|30em}}
{{Aleppo Governorate|Afrin}}
{{Cities of Syria}}
[[Category:Kurdish settlements in Aleppo Governorate]]
[[Category:Populated places in Afrin District]]
[[Category:Towns in Aleppo Governorate]]
[[Category:Dead Cities]]