Syria's communities and civilizations – history, sites and heritage
Yazidis
Self-designation: Êzidî
الإيزيديون
Religious communities
The Yazidis are a Kurmanji-speaking religious community whose chief divine being is Malak Ta'us, the Peacock Angel, and whose central saint is Sheikh Adi. In Syria they lived mainly in villages of the Afrin district (STJ lists 23); most now live in the northeast.
Yazidi belief centres on Malak Ta'us and on Sheikh Adi, a 12th-century Sufi who settled at Lalish in Iraq, the community's religious centre and pilgrimage site. The misconception that Yazidis are 'devil worshippers' stems from outsiders identifying Malak Ta'us with Satan.
Sources and details
Their hymns are in Kurdish (Kurmanji). STJ lists 23 villages with Yazidi populations in Afrin district and 19 Yazidi shrines there, many of them vandalised, looted or destroyed after 2018.
About 80,000 Yazidis lived in Syria before the war (U.S. State Department, 2023 report); the Afrin Yezidi Union estimates that about 2,000 remain in Afrin, compared with 50,000-60,000 before 2011. The UN Commission of Inquiry recognised in June 2016 that Yazidis were subjected to genocidal acts by ISIS.
Sites connected with this community 25
- Yazidi temple project, Dukar (Amuda)Dukar (Amuda countryside), Hasakah · Other religious sites · location not shown (sensitive)
New Yazidi temple project at Dukar near Amuda (foundation stone 2025).
- Abu Ka'ba siteAbu Ka'ba, Aleppo · Other religious sites · location not shown (sensitive)
Yazidi shrine or cemetery in the Afrin region listed by STJ (sensitive: village level at most).
- Barsa (Parsê) Khatun shrineQastal Jindo, Aleppo · Other religious sites · location not shown (sensitive)
Yazidi shrine or cemetery in the Afrin region listed by STJ (sensitive: village level at most).
- Bila Manan (Mannan) shrineKafr Jana, Aleppo · Other religious sites · location not shown (sensitive)
Yazidi shrine or cemetery in the Afrin region listed by STJ (sensitive: village level at most).
- Bir Jafir shrineMashala (near Hanan), Aleppo · Other religious sites · location not shown (sensitive)
Yazidi shrine or cemetery in the Afrin region listed by STJ (sensitive: village level at most).
- Burj Jindi shrineQibar, Aleppo · Other religious sites · location not shown (sensitive)
Yazidi shrine or cemetery in the Afrin region listed by STJ (sensitive: village level at most).
- Church of St Phocas, BasufanBasufan, Aleppo · Churches & monasteries
5th-century church ruin in the Yazidi village of Basufan.
- Hujir (Hoger) shrine at Qarah Jarnah (Qara Jorna)Qarah Jarnah (Qara Jorna), Aleppo · Other religious sites · location not shown (sensitive)
Yazidi shrine or cemetery in the Afrin region listed by STJ (sensitive: village level at most).
- Jabal Khana / Chilkhana (Çilxana) shrineQibar, Aleppo · Other religious sites · location not shown (sensitive)
Yazidi shrine or cemetery in the Afrin region listed by STJ (sensitive: village level at most).
- Kurd MountainAleppo · Nature
Kurd Mountain (Afrin region), home of most Syrian Yazidi villages.
- Malak Adi (Melekadi) shrineQibar, Aleppo · Other religious sites · location not shown (sensitive)
Yazidi shrine or cemetery in the Afrin region listed by STJ (sensitive: village level at most).
- Masha'allah shrinenear Hanan, Aleppo · Other religious sites · location not shown (sensitive)
Yazidi shrine or cemetery in the Afrin region listed by STJ (sensitive: village level at most).
- Sharaf al-Din shrineBaflioun (Pafilion), Aleppo · Other religious sites · location not shown (sensitive)
Yazidi shrine or cemetery in the Afrin region listed by STJ (sensitive: village level at most).
- Sheikh Abdul Qadir shrineZarifa (Turandah), Aleppo · Other religious sites · location not shown (sensitive)
Yazidi shrine or cemetery in the Afrin region listed by STJ (sensitive: village level at most).
- Sheikh Ali shrineBasufan, Aleppo · Other religious sites · location not shown (sensitive)
Yazidi shrine or cemetery in the Afrin region listed by STJ (sensitive: village level at most).
- Sheikh Barakat shrineJabal Sheikh Barakat (mountain), Aleppo · Other religious sites · location not shown (sensitive)
Yazidi shrine or cemetery in the Afrin region listed by STJ (sensitive: village level at most).
- Sheikh Gharib shrineSinkarli (Sînka), Aleppo · Other religious sites · location not shown (sensitive)
Yazidi shrine or cemetery in the Afrin region listed by STJ (sensitive: village level at most).
- Sheikh Hamid (Sheikh Humayd) shrineQastal Jindo, Aleppo · Other religious sites · location not shown (sensitive)
Yazidi shrine or cemetery in the Afrin region listed by STJ (sensitive: village level at most).
- Sheikh Junaid shrineFaqira (Ras al-Aswad / Feqîran), Aleppo · Other religious sites · location not shown (sensitive)
Yazidi shrine or cemetery in the Afrin region listed by STJ (sensitive: village level at most).
- Sheikh Kras (Karas) shrineDeir Ballut, Aleppo · Other religious sites · location not shown (sensitive)
Yazidi shrine or cemetery in the Afrin region listed by STJ (sensitive: village level at most).
- Sheikh Qassab shrineBurj Qas, Aleppo · Other religious sites · location not shown (sensitive)
Yazidi shrine or cemetery in the Afrin region listed by STJ (sensitive: village level at most).
- Sheikh Rukab (Rakab) shrineShadiriya (Shaderê), Aleppo · Other religious sites · location not shown (sensitive)
Yazidi shrine or cemetery in the Afrin region listed by STJ (sensitive: village level at most).
- Yazidi Cultural Union building (Afrin)Afrin, Aleppo · Other religious sites · location not shown (sensitive)
Yazidi Cultural Union building in Afrin, blown up in 2018; a school was later built on the site.
- Yazidi cemetery of QibarQibar, Aleppo · Other religious sites · location not shown (sensitive)
Yazidi shrine or cemetery in the Afrin region listed by STJ (sensitive: village level at most).
- Ziyarat Hajari (Hecherka / Sheikh Hussein) shrineQibar, Aleppo · Other religious sites · location not shown (sensitive)
Yazidi shrine or cemetery in the Afrin region listed by STJ (sensitive: village level at most).
Sources (4)
These categories describe history, language and faith – not exclusive identities. Many Syrians belong to several, and some names refer to civilizations of the past.