Mar Assia al-Hakim Church ( ar, كنيسة مار آسيا الحكيم) is a

Syriac Catholic The Syriac Catholic Church ( syc, ܥܕܬܐ ܣܘܪܝܝܬܐ ܩܬܘܠܝܩܝܬܐ, ʿĪṯo Suryayṯo Qaṯolīqayṯo, ar, الكنيسة السريانية الكاثوليكية) is an Eastern Catholic Christian jurisdiction originating in t ...

Church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * C ...

in Al-Jdayde quarter of Aleppo, Syria. The church belongs to the Archeparchy of Aleppo of the Syrian Catholic Church. It was completed in 1500 and is active up to now.

History

After

Tamerlane 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 Kür ...

invaded Aleppo in 1400 and destroyed it, the Christians migrated out of the city walls and established their own neighbourhood in 1420, at the northwestern suburbs of the city, thus founding the quarters 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 mans ...

. The vast majority of the Christian population returned to Aleppo by the end of the 15th century. The Syrian Catholic population of the city had re-established its presence in Aleppo and re-built the church in 1500 and called it the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Syrians. The Cathedral became the seat of the Syriac Catholic Patriarchate between the 17th and the 19th centuries. The church is mentioned by the

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

explorer Pietro Della Valle who visited Aleppo in 1625. The Church Our Lady of Syrians continued to serve as the main cathedral of the Syriac Catholic prelacy, the diocese of Aleppo, until 1970 when the new Cathedral of Our Lady of Assumption was opened in the central parts of the city of Aleppo, thus moving the prelacy to the newly built cathedral. The old church was renamed after ''Mar Assia al-Hakim'' (meaning ''Saint Assia the Wise'') during the same year. The Church of Mar Assia al-Hakim has a length of 32 meters and a width of 16 meters.

Damage

During its existence, the church was damaged twice: the first disaster was in October 1850 during the

Aleppo massacre of 1850 The Massacre of Aleppo ( ar, قومة حلب, '), often referred to simply as The Events ('), was a riot perpetrated by Muslim residents of Aleppo, largely from the eastern quarters of the city, against Christian residents, largely located in t ...

. The church was damaged for the second time in its history, during the Syrian civil war when the belfry which dates back to 1881 was destroyed after being shelled by the armed groups of the Free Syrian Army on 16 September 2012.

References

External links

Image_of_damage_to_the_Mar_Assia_Al-Hakim_Church_caused_during_the_Syrian_civil_war
,_as_reported_on_the_Facebook_page_of_Le_patrimoine_archéologique_syrien_en_danger.html" ;"title="Syrian civil war">Image of damage to the Mar Assia Al-Hakim Church caused during the Syrian civil war
, as reported on the Facebook page of Le patrimoine archéologique syrien en danger">Syrian civil war">Image of damage to the Mar Assia Al-Hakim Church caused during the Syrian civil war
, as reported on the Facebook page of Le patrimoine archéologique syrien en danger]
Syrian Catholic Archbishopric (Aleppo, Syria)
{{Syriac Catholic Church Assia Religious organizations established in the 15th century Eastern Catholicism in Syria Syriac Catholic church buildings Jdeydeh quarter

History

Damage

See also

References

External links