Simeon Stylites was a Syrian Christian ascetic in 5th century AD. He enjoyed people but abhorred physical contact. So he set himself on a small platform atop a tall pillar beside a major road in northern Syria that linked the Orient and Mediterranean worlds. There he lived for over 30 years, achieving fame far and wide. Soon after his death in 459, the Byzantine Emperor ordered a magnificant basilica to be built around the pillar named Qalaat Simaan. Over the years thousands came to venerate the site, as did I. Known locally as the Jinn, Simeon was still giving comfort 1500 years later to those uprooted by the politics of the Middle East.