MONASTERY
Mor Mattai Monastery
Mount Alfaf · near Mosul · Syriac Orthodox
A brief history
Dayro d-Mor Mattai, the Monastery of Saint Matthew, stands on Mount Alfaf about 20 kilometres north-east of Mosul. It is recognised as one of the oldest Christian monasteries in existence and the oldest Syriac Orthodox monastery in the world. It was long famous for the number of monks and scholars it housed and for its large library of Syriac manuscripts, and it is today an archbishopric.
Saints & traditions
Its library of Syriac Christian manuscripts made the monastery a centre of scholarship, not only of prayer.