CHURCH BUILDING
Al-Tahira Syriac Catholic Church
Qaraqosh (Bakhdida) · Syriac Catholic
A brief history
Also called the Church of the Immaculate Conception, this Syriac Catholic church in Qaraqosh, some 32 kilometres south-east of Mosul, opened in 1948. It was largely destroyed by the Islamic State during the group's occupation of the town in 2014, and what survived was used as a makeshift shooting range. Reconstruction followed the town's liberation in 2016.
An interesting detail
The building standing today is a restoration: the church was rebuilt after 2016 rather than left as the ruin the occupation created.