Restoration of 1,600-year-old Syriac church in Batman nears completion: To become a memorial museum
The three-stage restoration of the 1,600-year-old Mor Kiryakus Monastery in the Beşiri district of Batman has reached its final phase. Provincial Director of Culture and Tourism İhsan Aslanlı stated that after the restoration, the church will be opened both for worship and as a memorial museum for tourism.
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Restoration work is ongoing at the 1,600-year-old Mor Kiryakus Monastery in the Beşiri district of Batman.
The two-story monastery, built by Syriac Christians in the 5th century on a 2,500-square-meter area in the village of Ayrancı at the foothills of Kıra Mountain, has undergone restoration in three stages.
In the first stage of the restoration, the monastery's entrance gate, the entire southern facade, the tomb chamber, the eastern facade of the tomb chamber, and all rooms on the second floor were renovated. In the second stage, the perimeter wall was built, and the church and central courtyard were restored to their original state.
The restoration work at the monastery, which included a tourism reception area, landscaping, and site arrangement in the third stage, has reached its final phase.
Provincial Director of Culture and Tourism Mehmet İhsan Aslanlı stated that the word "Mor" means saint in Syriac, and "Kiryakus" was the name of the metropolitan of that period.
According to the report by AA, Aslanlı recalled that cleaning work was first carried out in 2017 to enable restoration work at the monastery, and noted that following the cleaning, the first stage of the restoration was carried out with the financing of the Dicle Development Agency, the second stage by the Provincial Special Administration, and the third stage by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism.
Stating that a new tourism destination will emerge with the completion of the restoration work at the monastery, Aslanlı said, "With the restoration of the monastery, a new tourism destination will emerge along with the Perpıra Bridge, which is 8 kilometers away from Batman, and the Malabadi Bridge, which is 30 kilometers away."