Cathedral of Our Lady of Assumption ( ar, كاتدرائية سيدة الانتقال), is an

Eastern Catholic The Eastern Catholic Churches or Oriental Catholic Churches, also called the Eastern-Rite Catholic Churches, Eastern Rite Catholicism, or simply the Eastern Churches, are 23 Eastern Christian autonomous ('' sui iuris'') particular churches of t ...

(

Syriac Syriac may refer to: *Syriac language, an ancient dialect of Middle Aramaic *Sureth, one of the modern dialects of Syriac spoken in the Nineveh Plains region * Syriac alphabet ** Syriac (Unicode block) ** Syriac Supplement * Neo-Aramaic languages a ...

) church in

Aleppo )), is an adjective which means "white-colored mixed with black". , motto = , image_map = , mapsize = , map_caption = , image_map1 = ...

Syria Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...

, located in the Christian quarter of

al-Jdayde Al-Jdayde ( ar, جديدة, also transliterated as ''al-Jdeideh'', ''al-Judayda'', ''al-Jdeïdé'' or ''al-Jadida'') is a historic predominantly Christian neighbourhood of Aleppo. It is noted for its winding narrow alleys, richly decorated mansi ...

. The current church was built in 1970, replacing the old cathedral. Due to the Syrian civil war it was closed from 2012 to 2018.

History

The original Syriac cathedral in Aleppo was constructed in 1500s, and was one of the earliest churches built in the historic neighborhood of

. The church was originally called the Cathedral of Our Lady of Syrians and was the seat of the Syrian Catholic Patriarchate between the 17th and 19th centuries. It continued to serve as the main cathedral for the Syrian Catholic diocese of Aleppo until 1970, when the newly constructed Cathedral of Our Lady of Assumption was completed and the seat of the cathedral was moved there. The original church still stands and is today known as the Syrian Catholic Church of Mar Assia al-Hakim (كنيسة مار اسيا الحكيم السريان الكاثوليك).

Syrian Civil War

During the

Battle of Aleppo A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force ...

the cathedral, as with most of Aleppo, sustained serious damage and was closed from 2012 to 2016 during the fighting, and from 2016 to 2018 due to the building being too damaged to hold religious services.

Re-opening

In September 2018 the cathedral was re-opened and re-dedicated by Syriac Catholic Patriarch

Ignace Joseph III Younan Ignatius Ephrem Joseph III Yonan (or ''Younan'', syr, ܐܓܢܛܝܘܣ ܝܘܣܦ ܬܠܝܬܝܐ ܝܘܢܢ, born November 15, 1944) is the Syriac Catholic Patriarch of Antioch and all the East of the Syriacs for the Syriac Catholic Church since his el ...

, with apostolic nuncio

Mario Zenari Mario Zenari (born 5 January 1946) is an Italian prelate of the Catholic Church who has been a cardinal since 2016. He has served his entire ecclesiastical career in the diplomatic service of the Holy See, holding senior positions beginning in 1 ...

also in attendance, along with members of other Christian denominations. During a three-month process earlier that year, the renown Syrian artists the Badawi brothers had re-painted the murals of the church that had been ruined in the war, with an area of 700 square meters it is the most extensive artistic project undertaken in Aleppo since the war there ended. The complex mosaics of the building had to also be re-done. In 2019 Christmas was celebrated at the cathedral for the first time since its re-opening.

References

{{Syriac Catholic Church Christian organizations established in the 16th century Churches completed in 1970 Cathedrals in Aleppo Syriac Catholic cathedrals Eastern Catholic cathedrals in Syria Jdeydeh quarter

History

Syrian Civil War

Re-opening

See also

References