Digital Damascus: The Chapel of Ananias Through a Lens

Project Anqa is an innovative collaboration between ICOMOS, Cyark and local organizations that aims to digitalize historic sites. One of these is the Ananias Chapel in Syria, the place where Paul the Apostle was baptized.

Project Anqa began work in 2015 to help Damascus recover some of the landmarks it had tragically lost in the Syrian conflict. The group organized training sessions with locals, showing them techniques to turn historic landmarks into digital recreations. 

In 2016, CyArk, a non-profit whose mission is to keep culture alive through tech, ran workshops and training in Lebanon to Syrian experts with a similar mission. The UNESCO Office for the Preservation of Syrian Cultural Heritage later partnered with the group in 2017. 

The images, video, and data of the Ananias Chapel give these local experts a visual snapshot of the site so that whenever they need to do restoration work, they have something to refer to. It also helps in the fight against antiquities trafficking.