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JUBILEE PILGRIMAGE 4-9 MAY 2001
DOCUMENTATION
[Updated: 20.04.2001]
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| S Y R I A Al-Suriyya
GREEK-ORTHODOX CATHEDRAL Built in the second century, and known as "Al-Mriamiyah" (the Marian One, in Arabic), the Greek-Orthodox Cathedral carries in it the history of the Church and of the entire country. In 614 Jerusalem was conquered by the Persians who destroyed the churches of the holy city. The Damascenes, concerned for the reliquary of John the Baptist, kept in the cathedral of the same name in the city of Damascus, hid it in a wooden chest with a handwritten parchment in Greek, and the chest was buried in the floor of the cathedral. In 636 the Arab Muslim conquerors occupied Damascus, entering though two Doors; the East Door, armed and led by Khaled Bin Walid, and the West Door, peacefully after negotiations with Sergio called the Nazarene (the grandfather of St. John Damascene) led by Abu Ubayda. The two Arab armies met near the Church of Mary, and, in fact, the destiny of the churches of Damascus was sealed; those in the eastern part of the city, conquered by the sword, were transformed into mosques; whereas the 15 churches in the western part of Damascus, including the citys Cathedral of St. John the Baptist, were closed. The church of Mary, on the other hand, being at the border between the two zones of the city, was declared property of the State. In 706 the 15 churches were reopened for worship, with the exception of the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist where the Omayyad Caliph Al-Walid decided to build a great mosque (see documentation on The Great Omayyad Mosque of Damascus [English, Italian]; in recompense he gave the Church of Mary to the Christians. During the excavations workers discovered the chest with the head of John the Baptist, venerated in Islam as the Prophet Yahya. The Caliph built the actual dome above the relics of St. John the Baptist, within the mosques Prayer Room. The "Mariamita" has been, since that time, the cathedral of Damascus. It has been repeatedly sacked and burned: in 950 by Ahmad Bin Tulun, in 1009 by the Fatimid Caliph Al-Hakim Bi-Amrihi, in 1206 by the Tartars and in 1401 by Tamerlane. In 1540 Damascene Christians were massacred by the Tartars and their heads piled up to the north of the Dfouma Gate, in a place still called "The Hill of Heads". Further blows were inflicted by the tremendous earthquake of 1759 and the massacres of the Syrian and Lebanese Christians in 1860; more than 9,000 Damascene Christians died then, according to data from the Greek-Orthodox Patriarchate, and all the churches in the Christian quarter of the city were destroyed. Many martyrs died, including the Greek-Orthodox priest of the Orthodox patriarchal curia, Yusef Mhanna, who was beatified by the Holy Antiochene Synod in October 1993. The current cathedral, dedicated to the Dormition of the Virgin Mary, has been rebuilt, starting in 1870. Capacity: approximatively 600 people. |
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Return to: - Index Jubilee Pilgrimage of His Holiness John Paul II in Greece, in Syria and at Malta on the Footsteps of St. Paul Apostle (4-9 May 2001) - Index Logistical Information - Index Holy See Press Office |
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