CHURCH BUILDING
Saint Elijah Maronite Cathedral
Aleppo · Jdeydeh · Maronite Catholic
- Locality
- Aleppo · Jdeydeh
- Tradition
- Maronite Catholic
- Type of place
- CHURCH BUILDING
- Coordinates
- 36.20714° N, 37.15570° E
Identity checked:
History: Saint Elijah Maronite Cathedral
Saint Elijah Cathedral is the Maronite cathedral of Aleppo, in the Christian quarter of Jdeydeh. A small fifteenth-century church stood on the site; the Italian traveller Pietro Della Valle described it in 1625 as one of four churches sharing a single courtyard and gate. The present cathedral, with two belfries on its façade, was completed in 1873, and its dome was rebuilt in 1914. Its roof collapsed in 2013 during the Syrian war, and it reopened after restoration in July 2020.
An interesting detail
The 1914 rebuilding of its dome was the first use of concrete in Aleppo’s building history, with help from Belgian experts; the tower clock chimes Ave Maria every fifteen minutes.