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Mor Hananyo Monastery

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Mor Hananyo Monastery
Mor Hananyo Monastery is located in Turkey
Mor Hananyo Monastery
Location within Turkey
Mor Hananyo Monastery is located in Near East
Mor Hananyo Monastery
Mor Hananyo Monastery (Near East)
Monastery information
Other namesDayro d-Mor Hananyo
DenominationSyriac Orthodox
Established493
Dedicated toMor Hananyo
Controlled churchesChurch of the Mother of God, Beth Kadishe
People
Founder(s)Mor Shelmon
Site
LocationNear Mardin, Turkey
Coordinates37°17′58″N 40°47′33″E / 37.29944°N 40.79250°E / 37.29944; 40.79250

Mor Hananyo Monastery or Monastery of Saint Ananias (Turkish: Deyrulzafaran Manastırı; Syriac: ܕܝܪܐ ܕܡܪܝ ܚܢܢܝܐ) is an important Syriac Orthodox monastery located five kilometers south east of Mardin, Turkey, in the Syriac cultural region known as Tur Abdin. [1]Mor Hananyo Monastery was the headquarters of the Syriac Orthodox Church from c. 1160 until 1932.[2]

It is usually better known by its nickname, the Saffron Monastery (Syriac: ܕܝܪܐ ܕܟܘܪܟܡܐ, Dairo d-Kurkmo[3]; Arabic: دير الزعفران, Dairu 'l-Za‘farān[3]) which is derived from the warm color of its stone. Syriac Orthodox culture was centered in two monasteries near Mardin (west of Tur Abdin), Mor Gabriel and Deyrulzafaran.[4]

Name

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The Mor Hananyo Monastery has gone by different names throughout its existence. First called Mor Shelmon monastery, it was renamed Monastery of Saint Ananias or Mor Hananyo Monastery after Saint Ananias (Hananoy) in the seventh century. Legend has it that yellow flowers of the saffron corcus was mixed into the mortar during the construction of the monastery in 5th century, giving the building its warm colour. That is where the monastery’s nickname, the Saffron Monastery or deyrulzafaran in Turkish, originates from.[5][6]An earlier dedication, to Mor Augen, is still remembered much later by some scribes who refer to it as the monastery of Mor Hananyo and Mor Augen.[7]

History

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The Mor Hananyo Monastery is built on the site of a 4500-year-old temple dedicated to the Mesopotamian sun god Shamash, which was then converted into a citadel by the Romans. After the Romans withdrew from the fortress, Mor Shelmon transformed it into a monastery in 493 AD.[8]Mosaics remaining from that period are still present in the monastery.[9] In 793 the monastery was renovated after a period of decline by the Bishop of Mardin and Kfartuta, Mor Hananyo, who gave the monastery its current name.

The monastery was later abandoned and re-founded by the bishop of Mardin, John, who carried out important renovations and moved the see of the Syriac Orthodox Church here before his death on the 12th of July 1165.[10] Therefore, From 1160 until 1932 it was the official seat of the patriarch of the Syriac Orthodox Church, after which it was moved first to Homs and in 1959 to Damascus. However, The Patriarchal throne and many relics are still located in the Monastery, as well as the Tombs of various Patriarchs.[11]

Wooden doors

In 451, the Miaphysite congregation of the Syrian Orthodox Church (Jacobites) split from the Byzantine Church after the Council of Chalcedon's debate about the true nature of Christ. It served as the seat of the Syrian Orthodox church from 493 to the 1920s. The hardy Mardin Christian community has dwindled from 2000 to 200 over the past 30 years. The church still uses Aramaic, Jesus’ language, as its liturgical tongue. Services are held daily, led by one of the two remaining monks. To the right of the entrance, down a few steps is a prayer room originally used as a temple to Shamash in 2000 B.C. Above it is an old mausoleum formerly used as a medical school; the wooden doors are inlaid with lions and serpents. The main chapel still retains patches of its original turquoise coat and houses a 300-year-old Bible, a 1000-year-old baptismal font, and a 1600-year-old mosaic floor.[12]

Church architecture

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Courtyard in the entrance of the Monastery
Courtyard in the entrance of the Monastery

Built in the 5th century AD, Mor Hananyo Monastery is one of the important centers of the Syriac Church, with its magnificent architecture. The various churches and buildings of the monastery still preserve a great deal of the original decoration and sculpture, many of the details of which are of very high artistic quality.[13] The monastery was built on a complex that was used as a Sun Temple before Christ and later as a castle by the Romans. When the Romans withdrew from the region, Saint Shelmon brought the bones of some saints and converted the castle into a monastery.[14] The actual monastery consists of a large, rectangular, three-story building complex and The monastery is supplied with water by ancient canals from the mountains.At the back of the courtyard there are three churches: St. Mary's Church dates from the 6th century, the main church (Mor Hananyo) was donated by Emperor Anastasios I (491-518), has a pyramidal roof and a bell tower added later, and houses the mausoleum-like Beit Qadishe (House of the Saints) burial chapel of the patriarchs. It is believed that under the burial chapel there was a temple from pre-Christian Assyrian times, since a window, which has since been closed, focused the first sunlight of the day, and at that time the sun goddess was worshipped in this way. The vault, made of stone blocks, is self-supporting and does not need mortar.[15]In the vicinity of the monastery, to the north, are three small monasteries, dedicated to the bearer of God (also called "of the dripping water [Noto]"), to Mor Ozoziel, and to Mor Jacob of Serug.

A temple of the Sun in the basement with a small hole in its eastern wall

Temple of the Sun in the basement

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True to its original purpose of a temple dedicated to the ancient Mesopotamian sun god Shamash, the monastery has 365 rooms in total, each symbolizing a day the Earth spends on its full cycle around the Sun. The remains of that temple may be found in a basement of the monastery, but as the structure has not been scientifically researched. That underground space is, nonetheless, the oldest part of the monastery. It consists of two rooms: the smaller one is covered with stone vaults, while the bigger one has a ceiling made of blocks of stone bound without mortar. The first rays of the sun enter the temple through a small hole in its eastern wall every morning.[16]

Beth Qadishe (house of saints)
Beth Qadishe (House of Saints) the tomb of some patriarchs and metropolitans

Beth Qadishe (House of Saints)

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It is the domed building on the southeastern facade of the Church of St. Hananyo (Domed Church). Its height is 10.5 meters and its width is 5.4 meters. The history of this building goes back to the 5th century, the date of the foundation of the Monastery. However, the outer parts were repaired again by Patriarch Peter IV in 1884. The bones of some saints, along with 53 patriarchs and metropolitans who served in the monastery are also buried here.[17] Another thing that draws attention in this section is the stone motifs found in the interior spaces. A vase found here, two hanging rods coming out of the vase and the figures of grape clusters immediately draw attention. Seashell figures are carved into the semicircular niches on the west wall of the structure. There is a cross surrounded by dolphins on the lintel of the entrance door of the structure. According to a rumor, this structure was once used for something related to medicine or pharmaceutical science.[14]The last patriarch entombed in this monastery is Moran Mor Ignatius Peter IV who died on 8 October 1894.

Mor hananyo church

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the main church of the monastery with the patriarchal throne in the side
Mor Hananyo church

During reign of Byzantine Emperor Anastasius I Dicorus, Syrian architects Theodosius and Theodore built the Church between 491 and 518 AD. The Church has a width of 12.3 meters, a height of 17.7 meters, and a surface area of 271 square meters. Because the dome of this Church resembles a cross, it is also known as the Domed Church. Various animal motifs on the Church's outside wall catch the eye. There were frescoes depicting stories from the Bible on the Church's inside walls, but only one has remained to this day. Saint Hananyo, who had the Monastery repaired in 793, is seen in this fresco. The church's wooden religious service platforms to the north and south of the abscissas date from 1699. Only two columns survived the 1941 fire that destroyed the wooden cheerful service platform in the central abscissa.[18]

Mor Hananyo church was also called the domed church due to its crossed shaped dome
The dome of Mor Hananyo Church

Church of Virgin Mary

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The Church of the Virgin Mary, located in the northeast of the main courtyard, is considered the first church of the monastery. During the reign of Patriarch Cercis II (1686-1708), a part of the church was restored. It has an area of ​​153 square meters. There are mosaics from the Byzantine period in the apse section, and some of the ceilings and walls are made of baked bricks in the Byzantine style. Inside the church, there are 3 kduşkudşin(areas were ritual items are kept) and 3 wooden doors made by hand in 1699. On these doors are verses from the Psalms of the Prophet David written in the Syriac language. An octagonal baptismal font for adults is noteworthy in this building. This church is still used for baptism ceremonies today.[6][14]

Printing press

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Printing press

The monastery has made a great effort to print books. A printing press was bought during a journey to England in 1874 and subsequently shipped to Antonius Azar in Aleppo. In 1881 the press was moved to the Monastery and in 1882 a separate house for the press was built. In the 1880s the archbishop of Jerusalem was sent to England to learn the printing. He came back with a second press as a backup for the first, which was located in Jerusalem. In 1888 the first book was printed in the monastery and a copy was sent to Queen Victoria. In the Monastery books kept being printed until 1917. From 1913 to 1914 also a periodical named Hikmet was printed. In the Turkish Republic the printing press was used to print official documents as it was the only press in the region.[19]

In the printing house, books in Arabic, Turkish, and Syriac, were published until 1969, and a monthly magazine called Öz Hikmet until 1953. Some of the pieces are exhibited in the monastery, others in the Kırklar Church in Mardin.[20]

  • The Saffron Monastery
    The Saffron Monastery
  • The tree lined path to the monastery
    The tree lined path to the monastery
  • The main entrance, taken from the outer courtyard
    The main entrance, taken from the outer courtyard
  • The Patriarchal throne
    The Patriarchal throne
  • Mor Hananyo Monastery with its farms in the background
    Mor Hananyo Monastery with its farms in the background
  • Bible and Pulpit
    Bible and Pulpit
  • The main inner courtyard
    The main inner courtyard
  • New block beside the entrance gate of the monastery housing a wine shop and small museum
    New block beside the entrance gate of the monastery housing a wine shop and small museum

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Deyrul Zafaran/Deir al-Za'faran Monastery | MCID". mcid.mcah.columbia.edu. Retrieved 2025-06-09.
  2. ^ Markessini, J. (2012). Around the World of Orthodox Christianity – Five Hundred Million Strong: The Unifying Aesthetic Beauty. Dorrance Publishing Company. p. 31. ISBN 978-1-4349-1486-6. Retrieved 25 October 2019.
  3. ^ a b Yuhanon, B. Beth. "The Methods of Killing in the Assyrian Genocide". Sayfo 1915. p. 180.
  4. ^ Üngör 2011, p. 15.
  5. ^ "Mor Hananyo Monastery". www.eichinger.ch. Retrieved 2025-06-09.
  6. ^ a b Jin, De Wet and (2023-05-02). "Mor Hananyo Monastery: Visit Turkey's Saffron Convent in Mardin". Museum of Wander. Retrieved 2025-06-09.
  7. ^ "Mor Hananyo Dayro, Turkey". syriacchristianity.in. Retrieved 2025-06-09.
  8. ^ "Eglise syriaque orthodoxe d'Antioche". Archived from the original on 2012-02-26. Retrieved 2014-03-05.
  9. ^ "Mor Hananyo Dayro, Turkey". syriacchristianity.in. Retrieved 2025-06-09.
  10. ^ "Mor Hananyo Dayro, Turkey". Archived from the original on 2007-09-27.
  11. ^ Traces in the Desert: Journeys of Discovery across Central Asia. (2008). Christoph Baumer. I. B. Tauris, New York, p. 21.
  12. ^ "Mardin". Archived from the original on 2021-08-26. Retrieved 2017-04-08.
  13. ^ "Mor Hananyo Dayro, Turkey". syriacchristianity.in. Retrieved 2025-06-09.
  14. ^ a b c "Deyrulzafaran Manastırı - Mardin". www.deyrulzafaran.org. Retrieved 2025-06-09.
  15. ^ "Mor Hananyo Monastery". www.eichinger.ch. Retrieved 2025-06-09.
  16. ^ Syriac Churches & Monasteries in Mardin & Midyat Retrieved 2023-10-05.
  17. ^ Doğukan, Kubilayhan (2022-10-12). "A Mysterious Journey to Deyrulzafaran Monastery". Şiir Tadında. Retrieved 2025-06-09.
  18. ^ "A Historical Heritage in Mardin: Mor Hananyo Monastery | Grand Sirkeci Hotel". www.grandsirkeci.com. Retrieved 2025-06-09.
  19. ^ Langer, Robert; Taşğın, Ahmet (2014). "The Establishment of the Syrian Orthodox Patriarchate Press". Geoffrey Roper (Ed.): Historical Aspects of Printing and Publishing in Languages of the Middle East (Islamic Manuscripts and Books, 4), 181–192: 181.
  20. ^ Printing tradition in Mor Hananyo monastery Retrieved 2023-10-05.

Sources

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