Saint George’s Melkite Greek Catholic Church, Aleppo

A church in the Sharasus quarter of old Aleppo that presents no front to the street. Do not confuse it with the Church of Mar Girgis also on this site: that one is in the Old Syriac Quarter and Syriac Orthodox, while this is the first church the Melkite Greek Catholics had in the city.

Getting there

East of Jdeideh, along the Hamidiyah line. You will not see the church from the street: its façade turns east, the main door is on the north side and the building sits behind a yard. If you have to ask, ask for the shrine of Mar Girgis.

How long it takes

Half an hour. There is a single hall inside, and most of that time goes standing in front of the iconostasis.

What to see

In 1830 the Ottoman state recognised the Melkite Catholic community and granted it the right to build its own churches. The eparchy of Aleppo set up a place of worship for Saint George in a house belonging to the endowments of the poor; the church was consecrated in 1836 and enlarged with a new interior in 1849. The building fronts no street, which was the rule under Ottoman government. Its façade faces east, following Eastern church custom, and the main entrance is on the north. Inside stands a marble iconostasis designed by local architects.

Don’t miss

The mosaic inlay of the iconostasis. Red, black and yellow stone is set into the marble; from a distance it reads as one colour, and the pattern appears only up close. Next door stood the Mar Girgis school, one of the first modern schools in Aleppo.

How it stands now

In the anti-Christian violence of 1850 the church was looted and a fire broke out inside; repairs began two years later. In the 19th century Ottoman troops turned the building into a barracks, but left it after public protest and it returned to worship. When the congregation moved to the modern quarters in the 1960s, the bishop bought land in Sulaymaniyah, laid the foundation stone in 1960, and the new church opened in March 1969. The old building became a shrine of Saint George that draws visitors from across Syria, and part of it was given over to a tailoring workshop.