Deyrulzafaran Monastery is located on a hill 4 km outside of Mardin in Southeastern Anatolia, Turkey. It is an important religious place for Syriac Orthodox Christians in this region, called “Tur Abdin”. For 640 years until 1932, the monastery was the residence of the Syriac Orthodox Patriarchs. Today the Monastery of Deyrulzafaran is the residence of the Archbishop of Mardin, visited by Syriac Orthodox Christians from all over the world.

The monastery was built in the 5th century on a place of a former sun temple (1000 BC). Later used by the Romans as fortress, it became a monastery, named after its founder St. Shleymun. In the year 793 renovations started under St. Hananyo, the Archbishop of Mardin and it was renamed to St. Hananyo Monastery.
After the 15th century the monastery was known as Deyrulzafaran (Saffron) because of the growing flowers around the buildings. The Deyrulzafaran Monastery became an important religious education centre of the Syriac Orthodox Church.

Inside the monastery are different churches and other buildings for the monks. In the Saints House are tombs of a number of patriarchs and archbishops. The Church of St. Hananyo, also known as “The Domed Church”, was built between 491 and 518 during the reign of Byzantines. There are two special chairs, one on the north side is reserved for the Patriarch, the chair opposite for the Archbishop.

© Photos and writing by Jens Helmstedt

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