Basufan

Basufan (Arabic: باصوفان; Kurdish: Basûfan)[2] (sometimes spelled Bassoûfâne, Bassoufane, Bosoufane, Bāşūfān) is an ancient village located in northwestern Syria.

The village hosts several vestiges of the 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.

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.

The building bore a resemblance to the church of Qal'at Sem'an[6] which could result from an imitation of the architecture of the latter.

South façade of the Church of Saint Phocas. Photo by Frank Kidner.