St. George's Church is the oldest

Chaldean Catholic The Chaldean Catholic Church is an Eastern Catholic particular church ('' sui iuris'') in full communion with the Holy See and the rest of the Catholic Church, and is headed by the Chaldean Patriarchate. Employing in its liturgy the East Syri ...

church in

Ankawa Ankawa (; , ) is a suburb of Erbil in Kurdistan Region, Iraq. It is located northwest of downtown Erbil. The suburb is predominantly populated by Christian Assyrian, most of whom adhere to the Chaldean Catholic Church. History Ankawa was ...

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

History

St. George's Church was probably built in 816, but parts of the church may date back to the fourth century. In 1995 the church building was restored. During the restoration, several carved stones were found. The engraving on one stone says that the church was rebuilt in 816 AD. A second stone mentions the death of Father Hormuz, a priest in Ankawa in 917 AD and the stone says Ankawa's name was then called Amku.

Patron Saint

The patron saint of this church is known as St. George. Before he became a Christian his name was Maherkoushap. St. George after was born in 576 AD in a branch of the

Sasanian The Sasanian Empire (), officially Eranshahr ( , "Empire of the Iranians"), was an Iranian empire that was founded and ruled by the House of Sasan from 224 to 651. Enduring for over four centuries, the length of the Sasanian dynasty's reign ...

royal family. The 20-year-old was baptized in 596. He became a monk at

Mount Izla Mount Izla ( ''Ṭūr Īzlā' ''),Thomas A. Carlson et al., “Izla — ܛܘܪܐ ܕܐܝܙܠܐ ” in The Syriac Gazetteer last modified January 14, 2014, http://syriaca.org/place/100. also Mountain of Nisibis or briefly in the 9th century Moun ...

in northern

and southern

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

. When the Persian king heard that George changed his religion, he arrested and killed George in 615. He is an important saint in the

Church of the East The Church of the East ( ) or the East Syriac Church, also called the Church of Seleucia-Ctesiphon, the Persian Church, the Assyrian Church, the Babylonian Church, the Chaldean Church or the Nestorian Church, is one of three major branches o ...

. On 24 April there is a feast for St. George and he is celebrated in Ankawa.

References

Ankawa Churches in Iraqi Kurdistan Chaldean Catholic churches {{ChaldeanCatholic-church-stub