The Mariamite Cathedral
The seat of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch, in the Christian quarter of Damascus. Handed back in 706 in exchange for the Umayyad Mosque. Free entry.
- Opening hours
- Open through the day outside services; hours vary
- Entry
- Free
- Duration
- 30 minutes
- Best time
- Morning, outside service times — the courtyard is quiet then
- Period
- Early foundations · present building after 1860
- Address
- Off Straight Street, Christian quarter, Old City, Damascus
It stands behind a courtyard that opens off Straight Street, and it is the seat of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch and All the East. Not the largest church in Damascus but the busiest one: the patriarch sits here and the services are held here. Sources trace its foundations to the first Christian centuries of the city; the building burned in 1860 along with most of the quarter, was rebuilt three years later, and took its present form in a 1953 restoration.
Getting there
About ten minutes if you hold Straight Street westward from Bab Sharqi, six or seven if you come from the direction of the Azm Palace. It opens onto the lane through the gate of a front courtyard rather than a facade, which makes it easy to walk past; what you are looking for is a courtyard entrance off to the side, not a church front.
How long it takes
Half an hour is enough. Entry is free and the church is open through the day, though the hours are not fixed — if a service is on you can stand at the back and watch, and then the visit stretches on its own.
What to see
The plan is Byzantine: a long nave down the middle, aisles on either side, and an iconostasis covered in icons at the end. The ceiling is carved wood, and icons and paintings have accumulated on the walls over centuries. The church holds 600 people. Beside the front courtyard there is a second courtyard with the bell tower, and a small museum keeping icons, vestments and silver left by earlier patriarchs.
The link with the Umayyad Mosque
In 706 the caliph al-Walid took the Church of John the Baptist and turned it into the Umayyad Mosque, leaving this church to the Christians in exchange. The two are ten minutes apart on foot, and seeing both in one day makes that exchange concrete. The patriarchal seat moved from Antioch to Damascus in 1344 and has been here since.
Do not miss
The two stone pulpits on either side of the nave. A spiral staircase climbs each one and the Gospel is read from there — most visitors look up at the iconostasis and walk straight past them.
Tips
- A place of worship: cover shoulders and knees, no photographs during a service
- There is no facade on the lane; you enter through the courtyard gate off to the side
- The bell tower is in the side courtyard, not visible from the front one — walk round the church
- The small museum is not always open; if it is shut, ask the attendant in the courtyard
