Simeon Stylites or Symeon the Stylite was a Syrian Christian ascetic, who achieved notability by living 37 years on a small platform on top of a pillar near Aleppo. Several other stylites later followed his model. Simeon is venerated as a saint by the Coptic Orthodox, Eastern Orthodox, and Roman Catholic Churches. He is known formally as Simeon Stylites the Elder to distinguish him from Simeon Stylites the Younger, Simeon Stylites III, and Symeon Stylites of Lesbos.