![Morgabrieltowers](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/61/Morgabrieltowers.jpg)
Dayro d-Mor Gabriel ( syc, ܕܝܪܐ ܕܡܪܝ ܓܒܪܐܝܠ; the ''Monastery of Saint Gabriel''), also known as Deyrulumur, is the oldest surviving
Syriac Orthodox monastery in the world. It is located on the
Tur Abdin
Tur Abdin ( syr, ܛܽܘܪ ܥܰܒ݂ܕܺܝܢ or ܛܘܼܪ ܥܲܒ݂ܕܝܼܢ, Ṭūr ʿAḇdīn) is a hilly region situated in southeast Turkey, including the eastern half of the Mardin Province, and Şırnak Province west of the Tigris, on the borde ...
plateau near
Midyat in the
Mardin Province
Mardin Province ( tr, Mardin ili; ku, Parêzgeha Mêrdînê; ar, محافظة ماردين) is a province of Turkey with a population of 809,719 in 2017, slightly down from the population of 835,173 in 2000. Kurds form the majority of the popu ...
in southeastern
Turkey
Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in ...
.
It has been involved in a dispute with the Turkish government that threatened its existence.
Syriac Orthodox culture was centered in two monasteries near
Mardin (west of
Tur Abdin
Tur Abdin ( syr, ܛܽܘܪ ܥܰܒ݂ܕܺܝܢ or ܛܘܼܪ ܥܲܒ݂ܕܝܼܢ, Ṭūr ʿAḇdīn) is a hilly region situated in southeast Turkey, including the eastern half of the Mardin Province, and Şırnak Province west of the Tigris, on the borde ...
), Mor Gabriel Monastery and
Deyrulzafaran.
History
![Morgabrielmain](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/28/Morgabrielmain.jpg)
Dayro d-Mor Gabriel was founded in 397 by the ascetic Mor Shmu'el (Samuel) and his student Mor Shem'un (Simon). According to tradition, Shem'un had a dream in which an Angel commanded him to build a House of Prayer in a location marked with three large stone blocks. When Shem'un awoke, he took his teacher to the place and found the stone the angel had placed. At this spot Mor Gabriel Monastery built.
The monastery's importance grew and by the 6th century there were over 1000 local and Coptic monks there. The monastery became so famous that it received contributions from Roman Emperors, such as
Arcadius
Arcadius ( grc-gre, Ἀρκάδιος ; 377 – 1 May 408) was Roman emperor from 383 to 408. He was the eldest son of the ''Augustus'' Theodosius I () and his first wife Aelia Flaccilla, and the brother of Honorius (). Arcadius ruled the ...
,
Honorius,
Theodosius II
Theodosius II ( grc-gre, Θεοδόσιος, Theodosios; 10 April 401 – 28 July 450) was Roman emperor for most of his life, proclaimed ''augustus'' as an infant in 402 and ruling as the eastern Empire's sole emperor after the death of his ...
and
Anastasius.
Between 615 and 1049 the Episcopal seat of Tur Abdin was based here and from 1049 until 1915 the monastery had its own diocese.
In the 7th century, the monastery became known as Monastery of
St Gabriel, who was famous for his ascetic life. In the fourteenth century four hundred and forty monks were killed by invading Mongols. In 1991, the remains of monks killed by
Timur
Timur ; chg, ''Aqsaq Temür'', 'Timur the Lame') or as ''Sahib-i-Qiran'' ( 'Lord of the Auspicious Conjunction'), his epithet. ( chg, ''Temür'', 'Iron'; 9 April 133617–19 February 1405), later Timūr Gurkānī ( chg, ''Temür Kü ...
(Tamerlane) were found in caves underneath the monastery, dated to the year 1401. During the
Seyfo genocide the monks were massacred by
Kurds ug:كۇردلار
Kurds ( ku, کورد ,Kurd, italic=yes, rtl=yes) or Kurdish people are an Iranian ethnic group native to the mountainous region of Kurdistan in Western Asia, which spans southeastern Turkey, northwestern Iran, northern Ira ...
and the monastery was occupied for four years until returned to the church in 1919.
The monastery is an important center for the Syriac-Aramean Christians of Tur Abdin with around fifteen
nuns and two
monk
A monk (, from el, μοναχός, ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a person who practices religious asceticism by monastic living, either alone or with any number of other monks. A monk may be a person who decides to dedica ...
s occupying separate wings, as well as a fluctuating number of local lay workers and guests from overseas. It maintained a significant library however, almost nothing remains. The monastery is currently the seat of the
metropolitan bishop
In Christian churches with episcopal polity, the rank of metropolitan bishop, or simply metropolitan (alternative obsolete form: metropolite), pertains to the diocesan bishop or archbishop of a metropolis.
Originally, the term referred to the ...
of Tur Abdin. In its history the monastery has produced many high-ranking clerics and scholars, among them, four patriarchs, a
Maphrian
The Maphrian ( syr, ܡܦܪܝܢܐ, maphryānā or ''maphryono''), originally known as the Grand Metropolitan of the East and also known as the Catholicos, was the second-highest rank in the ecclesiastical hierarchy of the Syriac Orthodox Church, ...
and 84 bishops.
Dayro d-Mor Gabriel is a working community set amongst gardens and orchards, and somewhat disfigured by 1960s residential accommodation. The monastery's primary purpose is to keep Syriac Orthodox Christianity alive in the land of its birth by providing schooling, ordination of native-born monks. On occasions it has provided physical protection to the Christian population.
Dayro d-Mor Gabriel is open to visitors, and it is possible to stay with permission, but is closed after dark.
Legal disputes
In the last decade the monastery has been involved in a land dispute with the Turkish government and Kurdish village leaders, particularly those linked to the
Çelebi tribe,
backed by local representatives of the ruling
Justice and Development Party.
In 2008 the villages
Eğlence,
Çandarlı
Çandarlı is a coastal township with own municipality within the district of Dikili in western Turkey's İzmir Province. It is a well-developed town and an important tourist resort. It is a fishing village, were a lot of daily life revolves ar ...
and
Yayvantepe as well as the Turkish Land Registry and the Office Forestry Ministry filed legal proceeding disputing the territory of the monastery.
The monastery won the legal dispute against the villages but lost to the Turkish authorities which resulted in a loss of territory ownership of 60%, which led the monastery to take the case to the
European Court of Human Rights
The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR or ECtHR), also known as the Strasbourg Court, is an international court of the Council of Europe which interprets the European Convention on Human Rights. The court hears applications alleging that ...
(ECHR). Turkish government assistance to the Kurds is seen as retaliation against the Syriac diaspora for lobbying for international recognition of the killings of tens of thousands of Syriacs during
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
as genocide. Their attempts to confiscate land owned by the monastery has garnered attention from many European governments and gathered opposition to
Turkey
Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in ...
's EU bid, and could be the basis of a case by the monastery at the ECHR. Otmar Oehring from Missio, a German Catholic charity, has said that the cases mean that “the state's actions suggest it wishes that the monastery no longer existed.”
There have also been claims that the monastery was built on the grounds of a previous mosque, regardless of the fact that the monastery was founded over 170 years prior to the birth of the Islamic prophet
Muhammad
Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد; 570 – 8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet divinely inspired to preach and confirm the mo ...
.
On 26 January 2011, the Turkish supreme court granted substantial parts of the Monastery to the Turkish Treasury.
[ The ruling was that land inside and adjacent to the monastery, which the monastery has owned for decades and has paid taxes for, belongs to the State. On June 13, 2012 the Turkish supreme court of appeals upheld this decision, which Arameans continued to protest.][Turkey’s Arameans press for rights to Mor Gabriel despite setbacks]
, YONCA POYRAZ DOĞAN, Today's Zaman, 10 July 2012
The then Turkish prime minister Erdoğan announced on 30 September 2013 that the land would be returned to the Syriac community in Turkey. This decision was approved a week later (7 October) by the Prime Ministry Directorate General of Foundations. A land registration process of two months would begin and was subject to approval.
The head of the Monastery of Mor Gabriel Foundation was handed the deeds of 12 parcels of the immovable property belonged to the Foundation of the Monastery of Mor Gabriel on 25 February 2014. This was based on the decision taken on 7 October 2013 by the Council of Foundations of the General Directorate of the Foundations. The legal process for taking the remaining 18 parcels of the monastery property continues.
A news report in June 2018 stated that the Turkish Parliament had passed an omnibus bill which was then signed into law by the President to return historic Syriac properties. The government returned the title deeds which had been confiscated from Mor Gabriel Monastery.Turkey returns confiscated Syriac church property deeds
/ref>
See also
*Roman architecture
Ancient Roman architecture adopted the external language of classical Greek architecture for the purposes of the ancient Romans
In modern historiography, ancient Rome refers to Roman civilisation from the founding of the city of Rome ...
*List of Roman domes
This is a list of Roman domes. The Romans were the first builders in the history of architecture to realize the potential of domes for the creation of large and well-defined interior spaces. Domes were introduced in a number of Roman building t ...
*Oldest churches in the world
This article lists some but by no means all of the oldest known church buildings in the world. In most instances, buildings listed here were reconstructed numerous times and only fragments of the original buildings have survived. These surviving ...
References
13 'Le dernier combat des moines de Turquie', La Croix, Tuesday 21 November 2017, p.18/19
Sources
*
External links
*
Presentation
{{Authority control
Christian monasteries in Turkey
Syriac Orthodox monasteries in Turkey
Buildings and structures in Mardin Province
Christian monasteries established in the 4th century
Tur Abdin
Tourist attractions in Mardin Province
390s establishments in the Byzantine Empire
397 establishments
390s establishments
Places of the Assyrian genocide