Deir al-Surian is located in the geological depression of Wadi al-Natrun, west of the Nile delta, a region known as Sketis in Late Antiquity. Its church, dedicated to the Holy Virgin, has been in continual use since its construction in the 7th century AD. Between the 9th and 16th centuries, a mixed Syriac-Coptic community celebrated in the church, and its architecture, paintings and inscriptions testify to the cultural exchange between the two groups.
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