Mor Gabriel Monastery

The Monastery of St. Gabriel

Location within Turkey
Monastery information
Other Names	Dayro d-Mor Gabriel Deyrulumur
Order	Syriac Orthodox Church
Established	397
Dedicated to	Mor Gabriel
Diocese	Diocese of Tur Abdin
Controlled churches	Saint Gabriel Church, Church of the Virgin Mary
People
Founder(s)	Mor Samuel and Mor Simon

The prominent towers of Dayro d-Mor Gabriel

Dayro d-Mor Gabriel (also known as Deyrulumur) (Syriac: ܕܝܪܐ ܕܡܪܝ ܓܒܪܐܝܠ; The Monastery of St. Gabriel) is the oldest surviving Syriac Orthodox monastery in the world. It is located on the Tur Abdin plateau near Midyat in the Mardin Province in Southeastern Turkey, the motherland of the Assyrian/Syriac people.^[1]

History

The functional main accommodation block of Dayro d-Mor Gabriel, emphasising its role as a working community

Founded in 397, Dayro d-Mor Gabriel is the most vital Syriac Orthodox monastery in Turkey, with around fifteen nuns and two monks occupying separate wings, as well as a fluctuating number of local lay workers and guests from overseas. It is also the seat of the metropolitan bishop of Tur Abdin.

Dayro d-Mor Gabriel is a working community set amongst gardens and orchards, and somewhat disfigured by 1960s residential accommodation. The monastery's primary purpose is to keep Syriac Orthodox Christianity alive in the land of its birth by providing schooling, ordination of native-born monks. On occasions it has provided physical protection to the Christian population.

Dayro d-Mor Gabriel is open to visitors, and it is possible to stay with permission, but is closed after dark.

Dispute with the Turkish government

The ancient monastery has been involved in a land dispute with the Turkish government and Kurdish village leaders, particularly those linked to the Çelebi tribe.^[2] Attempts to confiscate land owned by the monastery has garnered attention from many European governments gathering opposition to Turkey's EU bid, and could be the basis of a case by the monastery at the European Court of Human Rights. Otmar Oehring from Missio, a German Catholic charity, has said that the cases mean that “the state’s actions suggest it wishes that the monastery no longer existed.”^[2]

In January 26, 2011, the Turkish supreme court granted substantial parts of the Monastery to the Turkish Treasury. The ruling was that land inside and adjacent to the monastery, which the monastery has owned for decades and has paid taxes for, belongs to the State.^[3]

See also

• Syriac Orthodox Church
• Roman architecture
• List of Roman domes
• Oldest churches in the world

References

1. ^ The History of Mor Gabriel
2. ^ ^{a b} Turkey and religious freedom: Wooing Christians, The Economist
3. ^ Turkish Supreme Court Rules Against Assyrian Monastery, AINA.org

External links

• Official site
• Presentation
• A Cold Wind Sweeping the Tur Abdin
• Turkey's Aramaean Minority: More Than Just Mor Gabriel