Dair Mar Elia is permanently closed.

This entry remains in the Atlas as a record of its history, but it is no longer accessible to visitors.

Dair Mar Elia

Name: Dair Mar Elia
Address: Mosul, IQ

The oldest Christian monastery in Iraq until ISIS blew it up twice and then drove over it with bulldozers.

Mosul, Iraq

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About

The oldest Christian monastery in Iraq, Dair Mar Elia, or Saint Elijah's Monastery in English, was built in the 6th century. The monastery was located in a fenced off area in FOB Marez and protected by the US Army Chaplin Corp, but is now under the control of ISIS.

Update: As of late 2014, this site no longer exists. ISIS set off both surface and sub-surface bombs to destroy this historic site, then leveled the entire location with bulldozers.

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Christianity

Know Before You Go

The monastery was located just south of Mosul.

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Published

August 9, 2015

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Sources

Dair Mar Elia

Mosul
Iraq

36.292472, 43.130913

Nearby Places

Mar Behnam Monastery

Iraq

Aqueduct of Jerwan

Al-Shikhan, Iraq

Rabban Hormizd Monastery

Alqosh, Iraq

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Dair Mar Elia

The oldest Christian monastery in Iraq until ISIS blew it up twice and then drove over it with bulldozers.