St Thecla Ma‘lula is located northeast of Damascus at an altitude of 1600 meters in the mountainous region of Qalamoun.

The village of Ma‘lula' is isolated and naturally protected, which may largely explain its inhabitants’ continuing adherence to Christianity and the Aramaic language.

The name "Ma‘lula", meaning ‘entrance’ in Aramaic, refers to the village's position at the opening of a narrow pass between two steep hills.

Reaching the vicinity of Ma‘lula, she found the way blocked by a rocky height; yet, the moment she prayed for God's mercy, the barrier was miraculously divided.

Previously, however, visitors spent the afternoon and night in the grotto, prostrated themselves at dawn before the iconostasis, and drank the holy water of the spring.

Despite the spread of Islam in the region, local inhabitants have retained a firm faith in St Thecla, permitting the survival and prosperity of the convent.

In addition to these duties, the nuns practice manual crafts, such as sewing and embroidery, making rosaries, and decorating icons with pearls.

The nuns derive all their daily needs from the town of Ma‘lula; they seldom leave the convent, except to supervise agricultural work in the nearby fields or, occasionally, to travel to Damascus for goods that are locally unavailable.

A ladder at the top of the main convent building leads directly to the shrine of St Thecla, a rock-grotto that dates back to the earliest Christian centuries.

The icons are located in the iconostasis of the convent church of St John the Baptist, in the saint's grotto, and in the mother superior's wing.

The main group, on the upper register of the iconostasis, represents the Nativity of the Virgin, the Purification, the Dormition, the Baptism of Christ, the Transfiguration, the Descent from the Cross, the Resurrection, and Pentecost.

A wooden cross in the convent church displays the Crucified Lord in the center, surrounded by the Virgin, St John the Apostle and the symbols of the four Evangelists.

The last group of icons belongs to the Jerusalem school, known for its fusion of traditional Eastern iconography and European painting styles.