One of the oldest churches in Syria, Umm Al Zunnar (Our Lady of the Belt) sits in the old quarter of Homs. The church takes its name from a textile belt discovered beneath the altar in 1953, believed by the faithful to have belonged to the Virgin Mary. The relic is housed in a silver reliquary and remains an object of veneration.
The current building dates to 1852, though the site has been a place of worship since at least the early centuries of Christianity. An underground chapel preserves older stonework. Before the civil war, Homs had one of Syria's largest Christian communities, and this church was among its most important.