Dair Mar Elia – Mosul, Iraq - Atlas Obscura
Dair Mar Elia is permanently closed.

Dair Mar Elia

Mosul, Iraq

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

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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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The monastery was located just south of Mosul.

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