Deir Mama

Deir Mama (Arabic: دير ماما, romanized: Dayr Māmā) is a village in northwestern Syria, administratively part of the Hama Governorate. It is located 35 kilometers (22 mi) west of Hama along the eastern foothills of the Syrian Coastal Mountain Range. The village may have been one of the earliest rural areas in Syria where Alawites lived, i.e. before Mamluk rule in the mid-13th century. It was historically well known in Syria for its local silk industry, though it has dwindled in recent years. Deir Mama had a population of nearly 3,000 in 2004 and the inhabitants are Alawites and Christians.