The Virgin Mary Greek Catholic Cathedral, Aleppo

It stands in Jdeideh, a few steps from the church courtyard. This is the seat of the Melkite Greek Catholic eparchy of Aleppo, Seleucia and Cyrrhus, and the second Catholic church in the city — the first was Saint George’s, consecrated in 1836. The building begins with a fundraising campaign. Bishop Gregorios Shahyat went to his congregation for money, and once a group of women gave up their jewellery the sum was complete in two months.

Getting there

Walk west from Sahat al-Hatab. Once you reach the church courtyard of Jdeideh the cathedral is a few steps further. The Forty Martyrs, the Maronite Cathedral and Mar Assia al-Hakim are all in the same quarter, within walking distance.

How long it takes

Half an hour. That is what it takes to move between the yard and the church; allow an hour if a service is on.

What to see

The bishop did not build on empty ground: he bought the old houses on the site, had them pulled down and set the cathedral in their place. The architecture carries Mamluk marks — jasper facing, bold slanting arches, muqarnas ornament and a run of domes over the crossing. The yard is arcaded, and the doorway framed in two colours of stone is best seen from there. Schools, libraries and a specialist clinic run by the eparchy work in the same compound.

Don’t miss

The statue of Patriarch Maximos Mazloum at the far end of the yard. The cathedral went up during his patriarchate, and the statue stands at the end of the arcade, on the axis of the arches. Hurry inside and it stays behind you.

How it stands now

The cathedral has been wrecked twice: in the Aleppo uprising of 1850 and in the Syrian civil war. Each repair changed some of the original lines, so the front you see is not the front of 1843. The last restoration was completed in 2019, and the papal nuncio in Damascus attended the reopening.