Cathedral of St. Peter and Paul (Baghdad)

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The Cathedral of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul , also Peter and Paul Cathedral ( Arabic كاتدرائية مار بطرس ومار بولس في بغداد or short كنيسة مار بطرس و بولص), is a church in the Iraqi capital Baghdad that was consecrated in 1964. It is the cathedral of the Archdiocese of Baghdad of the Syrian Orthodox Church and is located in the city center of Baghdad.

Location

The Syrian Orthodox Peter and Paul Cathedral is located in the al-Wahda district in the center of Baghdad about 2 km east of the banks of the Tigris at 39 m a.s.l. on the southwest side of the street al-Sinaa (شارع الصناعة, "Industriestrasse"), about 400 m east of al-Wathiq-Platz (ساحة الواثق).

history

The Archdiocese of Baghdad of the Syrian Orthodox Church was not re-established until the 20th century. The construction of the Syrian Orthodox Peter and Paul Cathedral was made possible in the 1960s by donations from the patron Abdul Majid Zayouna. The new cathedral built according to plans by Joseph Jarjis was built on May 9, 1964 by Ignatius Jacob III. consecrated. Since then the cathedral has had three archbishops: first Gregorius Paulus Behnam , from 1969 Ignatius Zakka I. Iwas and, from 1980, Severius Jamil Hawa . Under Ignatius Zakka I. Iwas, the residence of the Syrian Orthodox Archbishop of Baghdad was built next to the cathedral in 1975. After the US troops marched in in 2013 and Saddam Hussein was overthrown , the cathedral was twice the target of terrorist attacks with car bombs , but these failed. The patron Abdul Majid Zayouna was murdered on April 5, 2008, which is remembered on three plaques (English, Arabic, Syriac) in the church on the left wall of the church. In February 2016 the cathedral was first visited by the Patriarch Ignatius Ephrem II Karim .

architecture

The Syrian Orthodox Peter and Paul Cathedral has a floor area of ​​over 1,800 square meters and is a hall church facing north-east, i.e. it has a large church hall without columns and pillars and has a steep gable roof . The church is built in the modern style, but has three elements of Syrian Orthodox architecture: a "lower church" (main nave) for the believers, the "middle church" (choir) for the choir of the deacons who sing the glory, and the “high church” (sanctuary) for the priests and bishops. At the northeast end of the building (above the altar) there is a dome with a cross.

Individual evidence

  1. a b c Pascal Meguesyan: St Peter and St Paul Cathedral in Baghdad (Mar Petros and Mar Paulos). Mesopotamia Heritage, March 2018.
  2. Official Reception at St. Peter and St. Paul Cathedral - Baghdad. Syriac Patriarchate News, February 27, 2016.

Coordinates: 33 ° 18 ′ 47 "  N , 44 ° 26 ′ 26"  E