The birthplace of Christianity lies on the slopes running from Mount Ararat to Mount Lebanon. Since ancient times the rugged valleys and gorges have served as a refuge for monastic communities and for those in search of solitude. Today some twelve million Christians are assumed to live in the Middle East, but only a few remain because of radical Islam and persecution; millions have relocated to north America, Europe and Australia.

Linda Dorigo and Andrea Milluzzi travelled through Iran, Lebanon, Egypt, Israel, the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, Jordan, Turkey and Syria, drawn towards the small communities that choose not to be part of the diaspora. While the region was being turned upside down by revolution and by a fractured war inside Islam, Christians became a religious minority.

“The essays and the images complement each other seamlessly, describing what they call a burdensome and often heart-rending situation.”