al-Zeitoun church

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Melkite Greek Catholic Cathedral of the Dormition of Our Lady in Damascus, 2010
Different view, 2010

The Cathedral of Our Lady al-Niah ( Arabic كاتدرائية سيدة النياح, DMG Kātidrāʾīyat Sayyidat an-Niyāḥ ), Cathedral of the Dormition of Our Lady (كنيسة رقاد السيدة العذراء, DMG Kanīsat Ruqād as-Sayyida al-ʿAḏrāʾ ) or Church al-Zeitoun (كنيسة الزيتون, DMG Kanīsat az-Zaitūn , after the street name Haret al-Zeitoun ,حارة الزيتون'Olive Alley') is the cathedral of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church in the Syrian capital Damascus . It is in the Christian quarter at the eastern city gate Bab Sharqi , south of Straight Street .

Location

The al-Zeitoun church stands at the southern end of an approximately 100 m long dead end street, the olive lane (حارة الزيتون, DMG Hārat az-Zaitūn ), on the eastern side of this square. The Olive Lane goes about 150 m west of the Bāb Sharqī from the Straight Road to the south. To the north of the church on the south side of Straight Street is the Saint Paul Cathedral of the Syrian Catholic Church , to the northeast, directly by Bāb Sharqī, the Saint Sarkis Cathedral of the Armenian Apostolic Church . From the square there are three dead ends, only a few meters long, to the south and south-west. To the south-east is the old city wall, behind which Ibn-Assaker-Strasse , a main road, runs parallel, separated from the church grounds .

history

The beginning of a previous building on the site of today's Melkite Cathedral is dated to the 3rd century. In the 14th century Damascus became the seat of the Greek Patriarch of Antioch, who was succeeded by the Melkite Greek Catholic Church. The current property was acquired in 1830 by the Melkite parish from previous Jewish owners. Today's Melkite Church in Damascus was built between 1833 and 1834, after the Ottoman Sultan Mahmud II, in connection with the Tanzimat reforms, permitted the construction of Christian churches in 1830. During a massacre of Christians in Damascus during the war in the Lebanon Mountains , the church was badly damaged in 1860, but then rebuilt and reopened in 1864.

From 2013 during the civil war in Syria , the Bab Sharqi district came under repeated fire by Islamist rebels. The front was only 500 meters from Bab Sharqi, but the rebels were thrown back in 2014. On September 13, 2013, three Melkite Christians from the monastery of Saints Sergius and Bacchus , who had been executed in Maalula by fighters of the armed opposition, were buried in the cemetery of the al-Zeitoun church in Damascus . On January 8, 2018, after a long period of calm, around 100 Islamist grenades fell again on the old town of Damascus, killing five and destroying the entrance door and several windows of the Melkite cathedral. The shelling came from the area of ​​eastern Ghouta , which was still under the control of opposition forces until March 2018, and caused panic in central Damascus. The St. Paul monastery of the Franciscans (Mar Bulos) in the district of Bāb Tūmā was also damaged. Only when the Islamists were expelled from Ghouta in April 2018 did the situation in the old town of Damascus calm down.

construction

The walls of the Greek Catholic Cathedral of Damascus are made of black basalt stones that come from the volcanic desert region southeast of the capital. The large pillars and the arches supported by them are made of these stones. The ceilings, on the other hand, are painted white, creating a contrast, as are the marble floors. The church has two bell towers, one of which has clocks, and a central dome. A carillon in the clock tower plays a melody at fixed times, while the other clock tower is silent.

Diocese and bishop

The Greek Catholic Cathedral of Damascus is the seat of the Greek-Melkitsche Archeparchy Damascus ( Archieparchia Damascena Graecorum Melkitarum ), which is the Melkite Patriarchate of Antioch with about 150,000 believers in 20 parishes with 50 priests and the Patriarch of Antioch, Jerusalem and all of the East and Alexandria reports directly. The patriarch has his seat here in the patriarchate at the al-Zeitoun church in Damascus.

On June 21, 2017, Joseph I (Youssef Absi), Patriarchal Vicar (Eparch) since 2006 , was elected Melkite Patriarch of Antioch, Jerusalem and all of the East and Alexandria.

The liturgical language of the Melkite Church is Arabic , the rite is Byzantine .

Other facilities

A school and a monastery are attached to the al-Zeitun church. The Melkite Patriarchate runs a shop that sells books and phonograms.

Students of the Melkite Greek Catholic School

The school of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church was formerly one of three Christian elite schools in Damascus. The writer Rafik Schami , who was born in this city and grew up in the old town and who lived here until 1971, said he attended this school on Saitungasse for twelve years ( Damascus in his heart and Germany in view ) . The school was attended not only by Christians, but also by the sons of rich Muslims . The Saitungasse with the Catholic cathedral and the school also appears in novels by Rafik Schami ( The dark side of love , 2004; Sophia , 2015).

Web links

Commons : al-Zeitoun Church  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b c d Daniel Demeter: Damascus - al-Zeitoun Church. Syria Photo Guide, July 1, 2014.
  2. ^ A b c d The Dormition of Our Lady Melkite Cathedral and Bishopric, Haret Al-Zeitoun district. Aid to the Church in Need, ACN International. (With pictures of the damage in 2018). Christians of Syria, ACN Syria, accessed April 28, 2020.
  3. ^ A b Cathedral of the Dormition of Our Lady. Gcatholic.org, January 20, 2020, accessed April 29, 2020.
  4. ↑ a b c Diana Darke: Syria . Bradt Travel Guides, 2006. p. 91. The Christian quarter: Syrian Catholic Cathedral of Mar Paulus (St Paul) .
  5. ↑ a b Georg Pulling: Christians and Muslims , April 30, 2018. In: Syria - Travel Diary , April 30, 2018 to May 4, 2018.
  6. ↑ Christoph Meyer: "Islam is in a serious crisis." Interview with Bishop Armash Nalbandian from the Armenian St. Sarkis Cathedral . Stuttgarter Nachrichten , January 8, 2015.
  7. ^ Funeral of Christians killed in Maloula takes place in Damascus. Orthodox Christianity, September 14, 2013.
  8. ^ "The Christians of Damascus feel abandoned" Ostkirchen.info Portal, March 2, 2018.
  9. ↑ Ulrich W. Sahm: “No alternative to Assad in Syria”. Israel Network, September 30, 2019.
  10. ↑ Karin Leukefeld : Archbishop Absi of Damascus becomes Patriarch of the Melkites - new head for 1.6 million Christians. Domradio , June 21, 2017.
  11. ^ Joseph Absi elected patriarch of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church. The Daily Star (Lebanon), June 21, 2017.
  12. ↑ Rafik Schami : Damascus in the heart and Germany in view . DTV , Munich 2009, p. 12 (first edition by Carl Hanser Verlag , Munich 2006). See also reading sample, p. 12 .
  13. ↑ Rafik Schami: Damascus, the Forbidden City - or: The streets of longing. haGalil , August 1, 2007.

Coordinates: 33 ° 30 ′ 31.1 ″  N , 36 ° 19 ′ 0.6 ″  E