Some 30 kilometers from Damascus, the village is spread out over a hilltop, and is surrounded by vineyards and olive groves. Seidnaya has, indeed, grown up around an important convent, which has been famous throughout the Christian East, since its foundation in 547 purportedly by Emperor Justinian. The convent was dedicated to the Blessed Virgin (Seydnâtâ, Seydâ Nâyâ, means "Our Lady" in Syrian). During and after the middle ages, legends grew about miracles associated with the image of the virgin displayed in a painting attributed to Luke the Evangelist. After Jerusalem, Seidnaya became the most famous center for pilgrimages in the East. Even in times of war between the Francs who held Jerusalem and the Muslims in Damascus, Christian pilgrims traveled to Seidnaya.

There are still some fifty sisters living in the convent; they belong to the Orthodox rite and come under the Patriarch of Antioch, who has his headquarters in Damascus.