Dayr Yakub
Dayr Yakub is a fifth-century monastery on the edge of the suburbs to the south of the modern Turkish city of Şanlıurfa. The monastery is built on the top of a hill above an ancient quarry, which Emma Loosley claims to be “an appropriated site for a former pagan sanctuary”. The earlier site was also […]
The Monastery of Mor Abay
This monastery, which was dedicated to a Persian saint, was founded in 370 according to some sources (Akyüz, Gabriyel. Mardin ili’nin merkezinde civar köylerinde ve ilçelerinde bulunan kiliselerin ve manastırların tarihi. Mardin Kırklar Kilisesi, 1998: 145), and in the 6ᵗh century according to others (Barṣawm, Afrām Ighnāṭyūs, and Matti Moosa. The History of Syriac Literature […]
The Monastery of Mor Abraham of Kashkar
This monastery, said Marlia Mundell, is known as the ‘Great Monastery’ on Mount Izlo. It was founded by Abraham of Kashkar (d.588). Abraham, who was from the Kashkar region (today al-Wasit) in southern Iraq. In 571, he formed the monastic order, which consists of 12 rules and which is followed by the Eastern Syriacs. He […]
The Monastery of Mor Aho
The Monastery of Mor Aho, according to the tradition, was built by the saint himself with his patron Theodore and his disciple Heworo, who named the complex «Bnoyel», mening ‘built by God’. The Roman commander Demetrius, who was assigned to a military unit in the Castle of Ṭur ʿAbdin (Comfort, Anthony. ‘Fortresses of the Tur […]
The Monastery of Mor Sargis and Mor Bakos
The Monastery of the revered martyred Roman soldiers Sergius and Bacchus, lies North of the Syriac village of Hah (the episcopal see of the Ṭūr ‘Abdīn since an early date up to 613 CE and again from the eleventh to the thirteenth century), currently known with the Turkish name of Anıtl. Its most ancient dated […]
The Monastery of Mor Abrohom and Mor Hobel
The Monastery of Mor Abrohom and Mor Hobel lies on a hill about one kilometre East of the city of Midyat. The monastic establishment is enclosed by tough modern walls and it includes three churches, two of which dates before the Arab conquest. According to the local tradition, it was founded in the fifth century […]
The Monastery of Mor Gabriel
The Monastery of Mor Gabriel, historically near the village of Qartmin and presently located 22 kilometers S-E of city of Midyat (Mardin Prov.), is the seat of the bishop of Ṭūr ‘Abdīn. It is a large monastery with buildings dating to various periods. The foundation myth of the monastery, in the hagiographic text named “Qartmin […]
The Monastery of Mor Hananyo
The monastic complex of Mor Ḥananyo is located 5 kilometers East of the Turkish city of Mardin, capital of the homonymous province. It lies in a shallow basin half-way up the side of the mountain ridge. It’s ancient name of “Monastery of St Ananias” was due to a bishop of Mardin, who rebuilt the monastery […]
The Monastery of Mor Lo´ozor
Mor Lo’ozor Monastery is on the top of a hill, few kilometers from the village of Mercimekli (Syriac Habsenas) north of Midyat. The British historian Andrew Palmer claims that it was founded by Shem‘un, the son of Mundar of Habsenas, who died in 734 (Palmer, Andrew. ‘La Montagne Aux LXX Monastères. La Géographie Monastique Du […]
The Monastery of Mor Yakub at Salah
The Monastery of Mor Yakub lies in a valley West of the village of Ṣalaḥ. Its foundation dates back to the 5th or 6th century, based on comparisons with the plan of Mor Gabriel complex and to the tradition that it was founded on the site of the martyrdom of the Egyptian monk Mor Barshabo, […]