Case file · Apparition / miracle
The oil-weeping icon of Saydnaya
The Shaghurah icon of the Virgin at the Orthodox convent of Saydnaya, north of Damascus, was said in the 12th century to exude a healing oil; Crusaders, Muslims and Byzantines all visited it.
1175 CE · 33.70, 36.38 · status: legend
The account
Western pilgrim accounts from about 1175 onward describe the icon 'becoming flesh' and producing oil that was carried back to Europe. The convent remains a pilgrimage site for Christians and Muslims.
The sceptical view
Medieval reports; year is approximate earliest Western attestation.