Syriac Monasteries in Turkey (Outside Tur-'Abdin)

Syriac Monasteries in Turkey (Outside Tur-'Abdin)

The monasteries in this list were mentioned in various sources but all of them are in ruin. They were abandoned for various reasons throughout the history of the Syriac Orthodox church but unfortunately there isn't much information about them.

Antioch

• Beth Malke Monastery: in the province of Antioch. It was in this monastery that Dionysius II resided in the middle of the seventh century and translated books of philosophy into our Syriac language. 

• Mar Daniel in Kfarbil, in the province of Antioch;

• Dawa'r (Circles) Monastery: in the province of Antioch, is first mentioned in history in 1112. From it came one Patriarch and four bishops.

• Eusebius Monastery: Its location is near the village of Tal'ada, in the vicinity of Antioch. It was built by the monks Eusebius the Great and Amian, who established a school for the teaching of philosophy about 340. St. Simon the Stylite entered this monastery at the beginning of his monastic vocation. In 409 it had 120 monks. It produced Patriarch John III and two bishops in the ninth century. 

• Monastery of Beth Licinius in the Black Mountain 

• Monastery of Mar George Kasliyud in the Black Mountain. 

Cilicia

• Baqismat (or Phaqismat) Monastery: is situated in Sis, Cilicia. Patriarch John XII resided there in 1108. Between 1266 and 1279, it was burned three times by Egyptian troops, who also killed twenty-five monks. Gregorius,

Edessa

• Fsilta Monastery: or the Quarry Monastery, outside Tell Mawzalt, was built in the fifth century and it produced five metropolitans. Nothing is known about it after 880. It's where Mor Jacob Baradaeus studied.

• Arabs' Monastery: between Tell Mawzalt and Tall Basam, nearer to Tell Mawzalt. It was built in the fifth century and is described in history as having been inhabited from 521 to 854. Four bishops graduated from it.

• Barbara Monastery: in the Mountain of Edessa. There is another monastery by the same name. This one was established in the beginning of the fifth century, but was not mentioned by historians until 1191. From it graduated Basilius Faris, metropolitan of Edessa (d. 1204).

• Monastery of the Easterners: one of the biggest and most important monasteries in the Mountain of Edessa, was built in the fourth century. In 600, Domitian, the Greek bishop of Melitene, persecuted and killed about four hundred of its monks for holding their Miaphysite believes. It remained in existence until the middle of the thirteenth century and produced eleven bishops.

• Jacob, the Doctor of the Church Monastery: also called the Nawawis Monastery (tombs), in the Mount of Edessa, an hour and a half south of the city. Formerly, it was a pagan temple and a pagan alter still stands there. This monasteryIy was built in the fifth century and was mentioned by John of Ephesus in his history in 519 It was renovated by its abbot, John of Sarug, who was elevated to the office of Maphryono of the East in 1164. It remained inhabited until 1223. Its ruins are still visible. 

• Mother of God Monastery: or the Monastery of the Solitary Strangers: in the Mount of Edessa, south of the city of Edessa and the Nawawis Monastery. The chronicler monk of Zuqnin mentioned it in his history (c. 751). One Patriarch and some bishops graduated from it. It remained active until the thirteenth century. 

• Quba Monastery: also called the Monastery of the Domes: in the Mountain of Edessa, south of St. Cosmas C hurch. Built at the beginning of the fifth century, it was destroyed by Ibn al-Bukhturi in 751, but was later restored. By 873 it had produced three bishops. 

• Sinun (Sinin) Monastery: near Edessa, was mentioned in history in 512 and 565. It was destroyed in 751 by the tyrant 'Abd Allah al-Bukhturi 

• The Monastery of the Bishop, named after the Mother of God.

• Monastery of the Beloved John of the Apostle: Built on a summit of the hills near Edessa

• The Monastery of the Exedra (Gallery): Built on top of the mountain, so called because of a gallery especially built for the abbots. The Anonymous Edessan of 1234 said that in one year 12,000 were baptized in it at Epiphany day. At that time, 90,000 monks lived in the mountain

• The Monastery of White, mentioned by Yaqut al-Hamawi, who called it Dayr al-Abyad (The White Monastery), was built on a mountain overlooking Edessa. The pealing of its bell could be heard in the city. The spot on which it is built overlooks Harran.

• Monastery of the Stranger Ascetics in the Edessa Mountain. 

• Dayro d'Mor Severus: Maphryono Tuma of Takrit (d. 847) and Maphryono Athanasius of Takrit (d. 904) studied there

• Monastery of Beth Purkse (the place of towers)

• Monastery of Zakkai

• Monastery of Qanon

• Monastery of Samuel

• Monastery of Handibana

• Monastery of Eusebius 

• Monastery of Julian Saba

• Monastery of Sts. Sergius and Bachus: It was a small monastery outside Edessa North gate built before 1099 by Athanasius, Metropolitan of Edessa.

Harran

• Beth Batin Monastery: in Harran. A synod met there in 793. It produced one Patriarch and three bishops and remained active until 975

• Kafrtina Monastery: outside Harran, south of Edessa, was mentioned by historians for the first time in 710. 

• Murayba Monastery: Murayba is a big village in the province of Harran. Two bishops graduated from its monastery in the first half of the ninth century. 

Karkar (Gerger)

• Dayro d'Mor Abhai: Also called the Monastery of the Ladders, is on the right bank of the Euphrates, a half-hour journey from the village of 'Urbish, near Karkar. It was established sometime after the fifth century and was first mentioned by historians in the beginning of the ninth century. It produced one Patriarch and fourteen bishops. It was inhabited until the beginning of the eighteenth century. Some of its ruins are still standing. 

• Dayro d'Mor Abhai: Was near the town of Murfa and founded in the 10th century. It was built on a ledge in the cliff of a mountain

• Dayro d'Mor Domit: Was near the town of Peskin and was founded in the late 11th century

• Dayro d'Mor Sergius

• Dayro d'Sumakto: Its name mean the Red monastery and it was a cave complex. It existed in the 11th and 12th centuries

• Dayro d'Mor Ya'koub: Was near Kaysum but it was taken over by Armenian monks in the 12th century and destoyed in the 20th century

• Abu Ghalib Monastery: It was also called the King's Table Monastery, near the village of Wank. It was built in 1138 and remained in existence until 1600 and it became know with this name after Athanasius Abu Ghalib, bishop of Jaihan who had been a monk in the this monastery and died there. In 1170, Patriarch Michael the Great rebuilt its church. It produced five bishops

• Fusqin Monastery: also called the "Barefooted" Monastery: on the left bank of the Euphrates, near Mor Abhai Monastery in Karkar. Master David and a group of monks renovated it at the beginning of the eleventh century. To this monastery are attributed five bishops in the tenth century. Its nave was built by the monk Habakkuk (fl. c. 1160). The monastery was still populated in 1565, but was abandoned a few years later.

• Shiro Monastery: was built in the name of St. Shabtai, a fifth century ascetic, opposite the Monastery of Mor Abhai, near the Monastery of Fusqin in Karkar. It was restored by Athanasius Denha, metropolitan of Edessa (1171-1191). While a monk, Patriarch John XII resided in this monastery and in it he was consecrated Patriarch, it remained populated until the beginning of the seventeenth century. 

• Zakka Monastery: in Karkar, also called the Monastery of the Virgin, was rebuilt in 1588 and produced two bishops. 

Kharput

• Ba'uth (or Banu Ba'uth) Monastery: near Kharput, first was mentioned in history in 1057. It produced four bishops. In 1290 it was ransacked by a group of Muslims and Muslims finally occupied it in 1311

• Dayro d'Mor Quryaqus: Also known as Zonigqart, located in Hisn Ziyad at the confluence of the Rivers Dhib and Arsanius, both of which are tributaries of the River Euphrates. Around the year 1207, the physician Shim’un of Hisn Ziyad undertook the renovation of the Monastery of Mar Quryaqos, Shim’un adorned this monastery with opulent royal artifacts and vessels made of gold and silver. He assembled approximately sixty monks there, providing them with extensive tracts of land and an abundance of cows, sheep, and beehives. They quickly gained a reputation for their devout and virtuous living. Further evidence of the monastery's early vitality comes from a manuscript copied in the hand of the famous Zebina (a Syriac name meaning "buyer"), which he completed for this monastery in 1227. In this text, it is recorded that the monastery was inhabited by eighty monks who lived a communal life, modeled after the holy Apostles. Zebina referred to the establishment as “The Monastery of the Mother of God and Mar Quryaqus the martyrs.” The flourishing state of the monastery is additionally demonstrated by the fact that the Patriarch of Antioch, Mar Ignatius II, resided there for a significant period, beginning only a few years after his installation as patriarch in 1222. The same historian subsequently provided a brief account of the monastery's destruction. However, Saint Dioscorus, the metropolitan of Hisn Ziyad, managed to buy the monastery possisions back and among the recovered treasures was a copy of the pictorial Gospel penned by Rabban Zebina, which the metropolitan donated to the Syriac church of Tabriz as a gift. 

Mar’ash

• Kasliyud Monastery: in the province of Mar'ash. Between 1100 and 1200 four bishops graduated from it. 

• Shina Monastery: in Mar’ash. Seven bishops graduated from it between 805 and 1110. 

Melitene

• Aaron Monastery: in Shaghr, in the province of Qallisura. Two patriarchs and five bishops graduated from it between 986 and 1170. ancient monastery, presumably established in the fifth century. It became a center of learning in the eleventh century; from it graduated Ignatius III, metropolitan of Melitene.

• Aaron Monastery: In the Mountain near Melitene, was built by St. Aaron of Sarug, the ascetic, in 389. It produced six bishops between 1088 and 1289.

• Barid Monastery: Was built in the province of Melitene in 969 by the Patriarch John VII, who lived and died there. A magnificent monastery, it produced one Patriarch, one Maphryono and eighteen bishops and metropolitans. We find no mention of it after 1213.

• Bar Jaji Monastery: on the Dry river, in the province of Melitene. It was established in 960 by the monk Elijah Ibn Jaji, in commemoration of the Forty Martyrs. In this monastery, the monk John, the pupil of Marun, taught linguistics and philosophy (c. 980-999). Sixteen eminent men of the church graduated from it until 1105. In 1085, however, it was destroyed in an attack by three thousand Turkish soldiers against Melitene.

• Rahta Monastery: It was located near Melitene

• The Monastery of Sarjisiyya: Built to honor the Martyrs Sergius and Bacchus and its construction started in about 958 by the monk Kiso Ashnawi of Azerbaijan in Jubas near Melitene and was finished in 1001. One of the professors at its school was John, student of Marun. From its founding until 1170, one Maphryono and ten bishops graduated from it, when it began to breathe the perfume of knowledge. This monastery and that of al-Bárid remained as centers of knowledge to the twelfth century.

Samosata

• 'Arnish Monastery: in the vicinity of Kesum and Ra'ban, was usurped by the wicked Gurtij the Armenian, who persecuted and expelled its monks, converting it into a citadel in 1114, but the monks were able to regain it. Between 1095 and 1132, six bishops graduated from it.

• Harbaz Monastery: also called George Monastery: in the province of Samosata. Its name first appears in history at the end of the seventh century, but nothing is known about it after the ninth century. From it graduated one Patriarch and five bishops.

• Jacob Monastery: near Kesum, was first mentioned in history at the end of the seventh century. Ten bishops graduated from it between 810 and 925. 

Sarug

• Shila Monastery: built in Sarug and named after St. Shila (d. 506). Two synods were convened in this monastery, in 706 and 846, and between 698 and 930 it produced nine bishops.

Seleucia

• Monastery of St. Thomas: It was built in the name of St. Thomas the Evangelist and it was located near Seleucia in current day Turkey. Youhana Bar Aphtonia studied there and became its abbot before it was taken over by the Melkite and Bar Aphtonia and the other monks moved out and established Monastery of Qenneshrin

• Monastery of Mor Mama: There are two monasteries built in the Seleucia region after Mor Mama who was martyred in 274 AD

• Monastery of Mor Tajon: Was located near Seleucia and mentioned by Michael Rabo in his chronicle

• Buzi Monastery: Was located near Seleucia and mentioned by Michael Rabo in his chronicle where Jacob Baradaeus ordained the monastery’s abbot to to be a bishop of Seleucia

• Monastery of Talin

• Monastery of Mor Shemuel

• Monastery of the Cross

• Monastery of Derwan